The Effect of Radiographic Contrast Media on Reperfusion Injury in the Isolated Rat Heart

Background and Objectives: We investigated the effects of commonly used contrast media (CM) on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in isolated rat hearts. Subjects and Methods: Isolated rat hearts were subjected to 30 minutes of regional ischemia and 2 hours of reperfusion. The following CM (1 mL/1 L Krebs-Henseleit buffer) were randomly perfused for 15 minutes beginning 5 minutes before reperfusion and ending 10 minutes after reperfusion: iohexol (n=8), iopromide (n=8), ioversol (n=8), iomeprol (n=8), iopamidol (n=7), ioxaglate (n=8), and iodixanol (n=7). The effects of a direct bolus injection of undiluted iohexol, iopromide, or ioxaglate (each n=6) via the aortic root immediately prior to reperfusion were also evaluated. The area of necrosis, expressed as the percentage of the area at risk (AN/AR), and cardiodynamic variables were measured. Results: The AN/AR of the control and experimental groups in the order described in methods was 33.7 +/- 6.4%, 30.3 +/- 7.4%, 34.7 +/- 12.6%, 29.2 +/- 10.2%, 20.9 +/- 7.6%, 22.6 +/- 8.7%, 18.8 +/- 7.9%, and 19.9 +/- 11.4%, respectively. Groups that received iomeprol and ioxaglate exhibited significantly decreased AN/AR values compared to those of control hearts (p=0.042 and p=0.013). No significant differences in the AN/AR were observed between control hearts and the groups injected with a single bolus of CM. No significant hemodynamic changes were noted after reperfusion among the groups. Conclusion: The overall effects of the CM on coronary reperfusion were not deleterious, and better effects were noted in two CM groups. However, it is unclear whether this result was attributed to a specific physiochemical property of the CM.