European heart journal
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European heart journal · Jun 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyRemote ischaemic preconditioning for heart surgery. The study design for a multi-center randomized double-blinded controlled clinical trial--the RIPHeart-Study.
Transient ischaemia of non-vital tissue has been shown to enhance the tolerance of remote organs to cope with a subsequent prolonged ischaemic event in a number of clinical conditions, a phenomenon known as remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC). However, there remains uncertainty about the efficacy of RIPC in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The purpose of this report is to describe the design and methods used in the "Remote Ischaemic Preconditioning for Heart Surgery (RIPHeart)-Study". ⋯ The RIPHeart-Study is a multicentre trial to determine whether RIPC may improve clinical outcome in cardiac surgical patients.