Myocardial reactive hyperemia

Abstract

Although our understanding of the determinants of the reactive hyperemic response remains imperfect, this review documents steady progress toward this goal and predicts that, as an experimental model, reactive hyperemia should continue to yield useful insights into the physiological regulation of coronary flow. The characteristics of myocardial reactive hyperemia, the metabolic response to myocardial ischemia, and the cause(s) of myocardial reactive hyperemia are discussed.