Reduced Coronary Vasodilator Function in Infarcted and Normal Myocardium after Myocardial Infarction

Several studies have shown that in patients with chronic stable angina due to single-vessel coronary artery disease, the coronary vasodilator response (defined as the ratio of maximal to basal coronary blood flow) is reduced not only in the region of myocardium perfused by the stenosed artery but also in the regions supplied by angiographically normal coronary arteries 1 – 3 . These observations suggest that in patients with stable coronary disease, there is a diffuse vasodilator abnormality of the coronary resistance vessels 4 , 5 . After acute myocardial infarction, the coronary vasodilator response in the infarcted myocardial region remains severely impaired despite successful . . .