Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Hibernating myocardium
Introduction
Overview
Overview
In cardiology hibernating myocardium is a state when some segments of the myocardium exhibit abnormalities of contractile function. These abnormalities can be visualised during echocardiography or ventriculography. The wall of the affected segments is hypo-, a- or dyskinetic.
The phenomenon is highly significant clinically because it usually manifests itself in setting of chronic ischemia, which is potentially reversible by revascularisation. The regions of myocardium are still viable and can restore its function. There develops a new steady state between myocardial blood flow and myocardial function, myocardial blood flow reduced and in consequence function is reduced too.
The clinical situations where one can expect hibernating myocardium are:
- chronic stable angina pectoris
- unstable angina
- silent ischemia
- after AMI
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]