Is Cardioprotection Salvageable?

Keywords: heart failure; mortality; myocardial infarction EN heart failure mortality myocardial infarction 415 417 3 04/20/20 20200211 NES 200211 Despite decades of preclinical and clinical proof-of-concept studies that have demonstrated that cardioprotection results in unequivocal infarct size reduction, translation into a benefit in clinical outcomes has been very disappointing. Perhaps the answer lies in the dramatic changes in the natural history of myocardial infarction and the revolutionary impact of reperfusion therapy. Mortality has declined steadily and substantially, with faster and better reperfusion therapies and the use of potent platelet inhibition and drugs that attenuate postinfarct remodeling, namely angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers, and aldosterone antagonists. [Extracted from the article]