[Transient postischemic myocardial injury--a condition of practical clinical significance?]

After a brief ischemic period, a prolonged phase of cardiac dysfunction develops. This transient dysfunction is now known as myocardial stunning. In this article we list the pathophysiological conditions in which myocardial stunning is most likely to occur in humans, and we discuss how it can be diagnosed. Although stunning is a reversible condition, its clinical implications can be life threatening. However, knowledge of the mechanisms involved may help improve the treatment of patients with myocardial stunning where this occurs after revascularization procedures for instance, and after cardiac arrest.