The intrinsic cardiac nervous system in ischemic heart disease.

The intrinsic cardiac nervous system (ICNS) serves an important role in beat-to-beat regulation of cardiac function. It is unknown if the ICNS undergoes "remodelling" when exposed to ischemic injury or therapeutic modalities utilized to treat myocardial ischemia. Chemical stimuli (adenosine and adenosine antagonists) were utilized to study the role intrinsic cardiac neuron P1 purinergic receptors play in myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. Further investigations examined the influence of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) and transmyocardial laser revascularization (TMLR) on cardiac neuronal control. Lastly, an examination of the human ICNS in patients with ischemic heart disease was performed.