ABSTRACT
The acute coronary occlusion creates sudden dynamic changes in the myocardium which result in a serious sequence of arrhythmias. Not all occlusions end in myocardial infarction. Those who develop myocardial infarction and survive the acute phase enter a subacute phase which is also associated with ventricular arrhythmias. One can classify the arrhythmias of acute coronary ischemia and infarction into those occurring during the acute phase and those of the subacute phase. Phase 1 is divided into I-A and I-B. The I-A arrhythmias are associated with delayed, fragmented, and continuous activity of ischemic myocardial fibers. Phase I-B is less clear in its mechanism and may originate in ischemic Purkinje fibers. Effective reperfusion may be defined as restoration of blood flow to ischemic tissue before it became irreversibly changed. The potassium ion is only one item among many playing a possible role in the genesis of arrhythmias of ischemia and reperfusion.
