Ubiquity of myocardial stunning

We observed over two decades ago that myocardium rendered ischemic, but not irreversibly damaged, exhibited prolonged depression of regional myocardial function, long after the complete return of blood flow and resumption of a normal electrocardiographic pattern (3). At that time we did not appreciate the extent to which this characteristic of ischemic myocardium would be involved mechanistically in so many experimental and clinical settings. With the additional work of Kloner and Braunwald, the phenomenon of delayed recovery of postischemic tissue became known as “stunned myocardium” (2).