The blockade of NO synthesis reduces myocardial O2 consumption in vivo. The decrease in O2 consumption is accompanied by a decrease in segment shortening. It involves a direct myocardial action of NO, is unaffected by beta-blockade, and is consistent with in vitro studies indicating that low levels of NO augment contractile performance by inhibition of a cGMP-dependent phosphodiesterase.

Impaired left ventricular function appears to be the strongest cardiac predictor of mortality for TAA repair, independent of the presence of coronary artery disease or coronary artery bypass revascularization.

Coronary vascular responsiveness to adenosine is blunted in vivo by both L-NAME and glibenclamide. Effects of the sulfonylurea and blockade of NO synthesis are additive and can limit coronary vasodilation as well as other responses involving KATP channels and NO.

Patients with AAA and AOD display a significant upregulation of the expression of ICAM-1, suggesting a role for this protein in the initiation or maintenance of degenerative aortic diseases.

The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of measuring partial pressure of oxygen (pO2), partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2), and pH in cardiac lymph and to evaluate the relationship of these parameters to comparable measurements in arterial and coronary sinus blood in the normal heart under various respiratory conditions. In four anesthetized open-chest dogs, the principal cardiac lymphatic as well as the femoral artery and coronary sinus were cannulated. Ventilation was varied by changing oxygen concentration, tidal volume, and respiratory rate. PO2, pCO2, and pH were measured in the cardiac lymph, arterial blood, and coronary sinus blood after each change in ventilation. For pH and pCO2, good correlations were observed between the arterial blood and cardiac lymph, arterial blood and coronary sinus blood, and coronary sinus blood and cardiac lymph. The correlation between the pO2 measured in the arterial blood and the pO2 measured in the cardiac lymph was not as strong, and this may have been related to difficulty achieving a steady state. Gas tensions (pO2, pCO2, and pH) can be measured in cardiac lymph and may provide a window to the interstitial compartment of the heart. This is an additional tool for the laboratory study of ischemia and other forms of heart disease.