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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2008 Feb;33(2):215–221. doi: 10.1016/j.ejcts.2007.11.008

Figure 1. Correlation between regional acidosis and myoglobin release.

Figure 1

Tissue pH was monitored during the distal anastomoses performed during OPCAB. We noted varying degrees of intramyocardial acidosis despite coronary occlusion times that were nearly identical between anastomoses and always <15 minutes. Myoglobin release was measured at the completion of OPCAB, 30 minutes after protamine administration. A transcardiac gradient was calculated by analyzing myoglobin levels from blood samples obtained simultaneously from the aorta and coronary sinus. A strong linear correlation between the mean regional pH change intraoperatively and transcardiac myoglobin release postoperatively.