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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ahj.2005.03.020 Byline: J. Conor O'Shea, Robert M. Califf Author Affiliation: Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, NC Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC Article History: Received 14 March 2005; Accepted 14 March 2005 Article Note: (footnote) Arlington, Virginia, July 19 to 21, 2001., The following companies provided educational grants to support the meeting and preparation of the manuscript: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, and Schering-Plough Research Institute. Jennifer King, PhD, and Kenneth Graham of the Duke Clinical Research Institute provided editorial assistance in preparing the manuscript.

To evaluate the potential for hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) to produce transient improvement in function in areas of myocardium ischemic at rest (hibernating myocardium), 24 patients were studied within 1 week of acute myocardial infarction. Results were compared with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) thallium-201 exercise scintigraphy. Echocardiography demonstrated improved contraction following HBO in 20 of 62 damaged left ventricular segments in 12 of 24 patients. Thirteen of the 28 segments and 9 of the 14 patients showing reversible ischemia on SPECT imaging showed improvement with HBO. There were eight segments with apparently normal resting contraction that showed a reversible thallium defect. Of 42 segments with fixed contraction abnormalities following HBO, eight had reversible thallium defects, four had normal thallium kinetics, and 30 had fixed thallium defects. Thus hyperbaric oxygen can demonstrate improvement in function in some segments of left ventricle after infarction. There is some overlap with viability as determined by thallium studies, but the two techniques may be complementary in describing myocardial ischemia.