title: Myocardial viability--mechanisms of reversible myocardial dysfunction and diagnosis in coronary artery disease.
abstract: The natural history of ischaemic myocardium and numerous revascularisation studies have proved that it is clinically important to distinguish viable but dysfunctional myocardium from irreversibly injured muscle in patients with coronary disease. A large variety of invasive and non-invasive methodologies are available for the detection of myocardial viability. This review focuses on the value and limitations of the current diagnostic approach to the recognition of stunned and hibernating myocardium in the light of the current understanding of their pathophysiological mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Helen Joseph and Johannesburg General Hospitals and University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mekel
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Landless
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grigorov
mesh_terms: D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D025401:Echocardiography, Stress; D006801:Humans; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization; D017682:Myocardial Stunning / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011379:Prognosis