Introduction
death, HF, ischemia, stroke, myocardial ischemia, ST-elevation myocardial infarction
MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION (MI), CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, STROKE, ISCHEMIA, MYOCARDIAL ISCHEMIA, ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE
Ischemic heart disease, mainly myocardial infarction (MI), remains a leading cause of death worldwide [Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) is a cardioprotective strategy, in which brief cycles of non-lethal ischemia and reperfusion are applied to a distant organ before, during or after a long period of myocardial ischemia [Sloth et al. (2014), enrolled 251 ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients and revealed a 51% decrease in all-cause mortality, non-fatal MI, stroke and HF in patients who underwent RIC [Therefore, it remains unclear whether RIC, restricted to patients with higher risk and greater susceptibility, could be cardioprotective.Cardiovascular diseases show diurnal variation, with a higher incidence of STEMI in the morning. Recently, Montaigne et al. (2018), revealed the influence of the daytime variation on tolerance to IRI in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement surgery. This study concluded that surgeries performed in the afternoon were associated with better clinical outcomes compared to those carried out in the morning [Up till now, the influence of daytime variation in IRI and in clinical results of RIC has never been raised. Therefore, our aim was to assess whether RIC, as an adjuvant to PPCI, performed in STEMI patients in the afternoon period had different clinical results.