Irreversible ischemic injury — definition of the problem

In spite of tremendous strides forward in cardiac pathophysiology over the past 30 years, knowledge of the genesis of irreversible ischemic myocardial injury is still limited. Ischemic myocardial heart disease is predominantly caused by the thrombotic occlusion of coronary arteries. After an initial period of ischemia during which restoration of supply conditions still allows structural and functional recovery of the myocardial cell, ischemic injury becomes irreversible or, in other words, reversible ischemia turns into infarction.