Reperfusion cardiac arrhythmias and their relation to reperfusion induced cell death

The aim of this dissertation was to analyse why cardiac arrhythmias occur after opening of the coronary arteries when a patient suffers an acute myocardial infarction. During this event, the heart muscle sustains damage due to a lack of oxygen. It was hypothesised that these arrhythmias indicate extra damage due to the reperfusion of oxygen-deprived heart muscle tissue. This is called a reperfusion injury. Cardiac arrhythmias could be the first marker of reperfusion injury. This marker could be used to indicate and develop treatment options for this type of injury.