Background:

Ischemic conditioning may help patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) to limit ventricular remodeling.

Objectives:

To investigate the effect of remote ischemic postconditioning (RIPC) on left ventricular function during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) in patients with STEMI.

Material and methods:

Pre- and post-test intervention study with a total of 60 STEMI patients. Patients were divided in two groups: with and without RIPC.

Results:

At 6-month follow-up evaluation, a significant difference in left ventricular ejection fraction was observed in patients who underwent PPCI, which was higher in the group with RIPC in comparison with the group without RIPC: 1.0 (−1.0 to 4.3) vs. −1.0 (−4.0 to –1.3), p = 0.033. In addition, at 6-month measurement, left ventricular end-systolic volume in patients without RIPC: was higher in comparison with their counterparts: 79.3 ± 30.5 mL versus 64.4 ± 21.4 mL, p = 0.032.

Conclusions:

RIPC shows favorable effects on left ventricular function and, therefore, in the future, it could be a potential cardioprotective strategy against ischemia-reperfusion injury in STEMI patients.