Stunned myocardium, an opinionated review.

Brief coronary occlusions cause stunning and ischemic preconditioning, the molecular mechanisms of which are insufficiently known. A marked reprogramming of sarcolemmal functions (including those of the sarcoplasmic reticulum) seems to occur and may be the basis for many of the observed phenomena. A bewilderingly complex pattern of gene expression emerges from mRNA-studies with reperfused tissue which at present does not permit a focussed or coherent view of mechanisms.