Ischemic Preconditioning: The Concept of Endogenous Cardioprotection consolidates, in one volume, both current knowledge and the most recent advances in ischemic preconditioning. The editors have invited investigators at the forefront of ongoing research to provide their scholarly and candid comments concerning each of these issues. This volume includes a comprehensive review of infarct size reduction with ischemic preconditioning, and the most recent data on the effects of preconditioning on ischemia and reperfusion-induced arrhythmias, myocardial metabolism, contractile function, and the coronary vasculature. The role of altered energy metabolism, stress-induced proteins, ATP-sensitive potassium channels, and adenosine -- the major hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the cardioprotective effects of ischemic preconditioning -- are critically reviewed by investigators who have been instrumental in developing these concepts. In addition, the editors raise the intriguing possibility that ischemic preconditioning may be more than simply a laboratory curiosity. Using a multidisciplinary approach, this volume challenges the readers to contribute their own expertise to address the unanswered questions concerning this endogenous, cardioprotective phenomenon.

Inhalt
I: Ischemic Preconditioning: Benefits and Limitations in Experimental Models of Ischemia/Reperfusion.- 1. What is ischemic preconditioning?.- 2. Preconditioning and ischemia- and reperfusion-induced arrhythmias.- 3. Preconditioning and myocardial contractile function.- 4. Preconditioning and the coronary vasculature.- II: Mechanisms of Cardioprotection by Preconditioning: Theories and Controversies.- 5. Role of altered energy metabolism in ischemic preconditioning.- 6. Stress proteins, heat stress, and myocardial protection.- 7. Role of ATP-sensitive potassium channels in ischemic preconditioning.- 8. Adenosine and the antiinfarct effects of preconditioning.- 9. Synopsis of ischemic preconditioning: What have we learned since 1986?.- III: Ischemic Preconditioning: Laboratory Curiosity or Clinical Promise?.- 10. Is preconditioning relevant to clinical medicine?.