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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: BACKGROUND, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Action Potentials, Animals, Electrocardiography, Heart Rate, Hindlimb, Ischemic Preconditioning, Muscle, Skeletal, Myocardial Infarction, Myocardial Reperfusion Injury, Myocardium, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Tachycardia, Ventricular.
user
Does chronic skeletal muscle ischemia in rats decrease the inducibility of ventricular tachyarrhythmias after myocardial infarction? Context: Chronic hind-limb ischemia confers cytoprotection after coronary occlusion, but it is unclear whether it ameliorates substrate formation for ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTs). Chronic hind-limb ischemia was generated by femoral artery excision in 50 rats, while 25 animals were sham-operated. Left coronary artery ligation was performed after 3 weeks and infarct size was measured 24 hours thereafter. The inducibility of VTs was assessed by programmed electrical stimulation (PES) 4 weeks post-ligation. A score was assigned, based on protocol stage and tachyarrhythmia duration. Monophasic action potentials (MAP) were recorded prior to and 4 weeks after ligation. The infarct size was smaller (p=0.000079) in the ischemic rats (25.7±2.1%) than in the controls (41.7±2.2%), accompanied by a lower (p=0.029) arrhythmia score (1.05±0.38 versus 2.70±0.68, respectively). The action potential duration (APD) was shorter (p<0.05) in the ischemic rats prior to ligation and remained stable after 4 weeks.
assistant
Chronic hind limb ischemia limits infarct size and decreases inducible ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Final Decision: yes