Background: Hibernating myocardium in patients with collateral-dependent myocardium is characterized by relative reductions in resting flow and increases in the uptake of 18F-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) in the fasting state. We performed the present study to examine whether these key physiological alterations could be produced in a porcine model of chronic coronary occlusion and to assess whether the adaptations consistent with hibernation varied across the myocardial wall.
Methods and results: We chronically instrumented pigs (n = 18) with a fixed occluder on the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). Three months later, ventricular function, regional myocardial perfusion, and FDG deposition (by excised tissue counting or positron emission tomography) were assessed in pigs after an over-night fast in the closed-chest anesthetized state. Total LAD occlusion with angiographic collaterals was present in the majority of animals. Left ventriculography showed severe anterior hypokinesis, and resting perfusion was significantly reduced in the hibernating LAD region in comparison with the normal remote regions (subendocardium: 0.80 +/- 0.06 versus 1.07 +/- 0.06 mL.min-1.g-1, P < .001; full-thickness: 0.87 +/- 0.04 versus 0.99 +/- 0.06 mL.min-1.g-1, P < .01). There was a twofold increase in full-thickness fasting FDG uptake in the dysfunctional LAD region (1.8 +/- 0.2 by positron emission tomography versus 1.9 +/- 0.1 by ex vivo counting). Ex vivo tissue counting revealed a pronounced transmural variation in FDG uptake in the hibernating region (LAD/normal), which averaged 2.5 +/- 0.2 in the subendocardium, 1.9 +/- 0.2 in the midmyocardium, and 1.4 +/- 0.1 in the subepicardium.
Conclusions: These results demonstrate that pigs instrumented with a proximal LAD stenosis develop hibernating myocardium characterized by relative reductions in resting function and perfusion in association with increased uptake of FDG in the fasting state. The transmural variations in relative resting flow and FDG uptake suggest that myocardial adaptations consistent with hibernation are most pronounced in the subendocardial layers and vary in relation to local coronary flow reserve.