phosphocreatine and Embolism

Forty-two patients (mean age 79 years) with acute ischaemia of one leg were evaluated in a prospective study. Forty-nine percent of the patients suffered from embolism, 29% from thrombosis while the etiology was uncertain in 22%. In 30 of the ischaemic legs and in 21 contralateral non-ischaemic legs the muscle energy metabolic status (ATP, ADP, AMP, ECP, PC, Cr and lactate) from the gastrocnemius muscle was measured and compared to values obtained from 24 healthy age-matched controls. There was a high degree of energy metabolic impairment in the ischaemic legs. Furthermore, the contralateral non-ischaemic legs were also energy depleted in comparison with those of the healthy controls. Legs with thrombosis were more energy-deprived than legs with embolism. Clinical evaluation of the degree of ischaemia and the level of occlusion correlated with energy metabolic parameters but the duration of ischaemia did not. The degree of metabolic impairment had no prognostic implication for the clinical outcome.

Topics: Adenine Nucleotides; Aged; Amputation, Surgical; Embolism; Energy Metabolism; Female; Humans; Ischemia; Lactates; Lactic Acid; Leg; Male; Muscles; Phosphocreatine; Prospective Studies; Thrombosis