Ultrastructural preservation of human atrial intrinsic innervation after the cold ischemic anoxic asystole during cardiac surgery.

The method of induced cold ischemic anoxic asystole used in the course of cardiac surgery for protection of the myocardium also preserves well the inbuilt intrinsic nervous apparatus of the heart, including the small dense-cored vesicle of the adrenergic nerve terminals. However, if the protective procedure fails, the resulting damage to the myocardial cells is accompanied by severe destruction of the neural elements.