Cardiac depression in severe acute pancreatitis: development mechanisms and possible treatment approaches. Review

Cardiac depression, also known as myocardial depression, is one of the typical complications of severe acute pancreatitis. The review describes modern views on the mechanism of development of this phenomenon; the place of the term «myocardial depression factor» at the current stage of study of the problem was discussed; pathogenetic factors of myocardial depression requiring further study have been identified. An attempt to consider cardiac depression as a phenomenon involving the whole cardiovascular system, rather than the heart along, was made. Each pathophysiological factor is examined in terms of the possibility of clinical use.