Clinical Trial of The Myocardial Protective Effects of Repeated Electroacupuncture Preconditioning in Heart Valve Replacement Surgery

Heart valve replacement surgery has been proved to be an effective method in treating both regenerative and rheumatic valve disease. Current studies showed that cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and operation related myocardial injury, as indicated by the release of perioperative cardiac enzymes, is associated with worse patient morbidity and mortality after elective valve replacement surgery. Although the actual mechanism is still unclear, it has been shown that ischemic preconditioning is one potential strategy for reduction of myocardial injury in open heart surgery. Recently, Electro- acupuncture (EA) was proved to produced cerebral protective and antiarrhythmic effects by mimicking ischemic preconditioning. This study aims to assess whether electroacupuncture preconditioning is also effective in reducing myocardial injury in adults with acquired heart valve disease undergoing elective valve replacement surgery.