Figure 3. Recovery of external heart work (W2vs. W1). (A) shows the control groups without anesthetics, (B) the intervention groups receiving sevoflurane or isoflurane. The dashed line in the lower panel indicates the recovery of external heart work (EHW) of the ischemia-control group, the complete line that of the ischemia plus polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) postischemic group. Time-control hearts were not subjected to ischemia. All other groups were subjected to 15 min of global no-flow ischemia, which caused loss of recovery. After application of 3 x 106PMNs in the second min of reperfusion, recovery of EHW was significantly decreased in comparison with the ischemia-control group, but not when infusion of PMNs occurred in the presence of either sevoflurane or isoflurane. Minimum alveolar concentrations (MAC) of 0.5 and 1 volatile anesthetic were about equally protective. Application of anesthetics (1 minimum alveolar concentration) under control conditions had no impact on recovery of EHW. Values are means +/- SD, n = 6–10. *P < 0.05 versus the ischemia plus PMN postischemic group;#P < 0.05 versus the time-control group.