Post-systolic shortening: a functional window into ischemic memory?

Myocardial post-systolic shortening is characterized by a large variability in both duration and magnitude. Although typically occurring in a setting of ischemic heart disease, this regionally asynchronous myocardial contraction is considered a normal finding in approximately one-third of myocardial segments in healthy subjects, as long as the magnitude is low and the systolic strain is preserved (2). Post-systolic contraction takes place during an energetically demanding