[Reversible left ventricular dysfunction in coronary disease (part one): myocardial stunning].

INTRODUCTION

The concept of myocardial stunning has been proposed by Braunwald and Kloner in early 1980's and is defined as transient postischemic myocardial dysfunction that persists after reperfusion, despite the absence of irreversible damage and restoration of normal or near normal coronary flow. Thus, the hallmark of stunned myocardium is the mismatch between coronary flow and myocardial function.

MYOCARDIAL STUNNING

The two most plausible hypotheses used to explain the pathogenetic mechanisms of myocardial stunning are calcium and oxyradical hypotheses. According to the first one, myocardial stunning is the result of impaired calcium homeostasis caused either by calcium overload or decreased responsiveness of myofilaments to calcium. The oxyradical hypothesis postulates that generation of free oxygen radicals depresses myocardial function after the ischemic episode. The exact mechanism is unknown, but it is probably due to extreme reactivity of oxyradicals that bind to some cellular components, impairing membrane permeability and function of various cell organelle. Stunned myocardium can be seen in numerous clinical situations in which myocardial ischemia has been followed by reperfusion. These include: coronary artery bypass surgery, acute myocardial infarction, stable, unstable and variant angina, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and cardiac transplantation.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

In majority of these situations, stunned myocardium is usually well tolerated. However, there is a group of high-risk patients in whom prolonged myocardial dysfunction due to stunning can cause serious hemodynamic instability, which requires pharmacological and/or mechanical support. Therefore, in order to avoid these situations, some authors have suggested that stunned myocardium should be prevented, rather than treated. Since stunned myocardium is by definition reperfused, with normal or near normal coronary flow, treatment is reserved only for those patients in whom stunned region is large enough to cause low cardiac output and hypotension. Revascularisation is usually unnecessary; however, there are situations in which episodes of repetitive stunning cause chronic myocardial dysfunction along with hibernated myocardium, when myocardial revascularization would be beneficial.