Figure 3  .

Levosimendan increased blood flow in the peripheral ischaemic zone of the left ventricle before coronary artery ligation (before ischaemia) and during ischaemia and after reperfusion when compared with placebo treated hearts. The peripheral ischaemic zone was defined as the unstained (with patent blue) outer border of the ischaemic zone in the left ventricle. The ischaemic zone was delineated at the end of each experiment by injection of patent blue dye into the left atrium. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.001 (n = 5).