Stunning is, by definition, a state of fully reversible contractile dysfunction which recovers spontaneously. Therefore, with reperfusion the most important therapeutic intervention has already occurred. Since, in the clinical setting, stunning may coexist with persistently ischemic and infarcting myocardium, the benefit of therapeutic interventions on the stunned myocardium must be weighed against potential deleterious effects on the ischemic myocardium.Temperature, heart rate, and loading conditions must be optimized to minimize stunning. Pretreatment with adenosine, antioxidants, calcium antagonists, and ACE inhibitors attenuates stunning. With full reperfusion warranted, inotropic interventions attenuate stunning effectively without jeopardizing myocardial integrity...