Acupuncture pretreatment has been shown to attenuate ischemic arrhythmias.In order to provide scientific explanations about the mechanism of anti-arrhythmic effect of acupuncture pretreatment

the current progress of researches on arrhythmia and acupuncture pretreatment was reviewed from 1)clinical significance of acupuncture pretreatment in the treatment and prevention of myocardium ischemia and ischemic arrhythmias;and 2)the similarity between acupuncture pretreatment and ischemic preconditioning.In addition

the authors of the present paper make a systemic analysis on the possible mechanism of acupuncture and acupuncture pretreatment underlying the anti-arrhythmic effect from intracellular calcium activities

gap junction between cardiac myocytes

and electrical conductance between cardiac myocytes.The present paper attempts to provide some possible cues for studies on acupuncture pretreatment of ischemic arrhythmia and break a new pathway for clinical treatment.