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The effects of coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion at 1 hour (1-hr group), 2 hours (2-hr group), and 3 hours (3-hr group) were compared with a permanently occluded group (P group) on measurements of overall left ventricular and regional endocardial function over a 4-week period. The studies were conducted in conscious dogs 1-2 weeks after recovery from instrumentation with solid state left ventricular pressure gauges, aortic, and left atrial catheters, hydraulic occluders, and Doppler flow transducers on the left anterior descending or left circumflex coronary arteries, and multiple pairs of ultrasonic transducers implanted in the endocardial third of the left ventricular free wall to measure endocardial segment shortening. During coronary artery occlusion, similar effects were observed in the four groups. At 1 hour after coronary artery occlusion, three classes of ischemia-induced dysfunction were observed; dyskinetic (systolic shortening completely lost and replaced by paradoxical bulging), severely hypokinetic (systolic shortening depressed by 65-95%), and moderately hypokinetic (systolic shortening depressed by 40-65%). Compared with the P group, significant (P less than 0.05) return of systolic shortening and velocity of shortening gradually occurred over the 4-week period following reperfusion in all classes of segments in the 1-hour group. In the 2-hour group, systolic shortening returned in the moderately and severely hypokinetic segments, but was slight and not significant in the dyskinetic segments. In the 3-hour group, significant systolic shortening returned only in the moderately hypokinetic segments. The effects of isoproterenol, 0.04 micrograms/kg per min, and exercise were compared on "salvaged" dyskinetic segments prior to and at 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks after coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion. The responses to isoproterenol were significantly depressed at 1 week after reperfusion and gradually recovered over the 4-week period. At 3-4 weeks after reperfusion, severe exercise also increased shortening and velocity of shortening in "salvaged" segments. Thus, in the conscious dog, coronary artery reperfusion at 1 hour after coronary artery occlusion results in substantial return of endocardial function even in the most severely ischemic myocardium. The "salvaged" myocardium responds adequately to myocardial stress with increases in the extent and velocity of systolic shortening, as long as 3-4 weeks after reperfusion are allowed for recovery. However, after 3 hours of coronary artery occlusion, little salvage of regional myocardial function can be induced by acute reperfusion in this model.