>Acute Myocardial Infarction (MI)

Acute Myocardial Infarction

Of all the different types of heart diseases in this cardiovascular diseases list, acute myocardial infarction, which is commonly known as a heart attack, is one of the most common medical emergency conditions, which comes with a high mortality rate. A large number of myocardial infarction cases occur at rest, during sleep or sometimes after heavy exertion.

Causes:

• Coronary artery blockage is by far the most common cause of acute myocardial infarction. Partial or complete blockage of one or more coronary arteries leads to an attack of myocardial infarction which may even culminate in sudden cardiac arrest and death.
• Other factors that may lead to an acute myocardial infarction attack include unstable angina, variant angina and hypoglycemia.

Warning sign of MI

Warning Sign of MI:

Most heart attacks are also asymptomatic in nature and are known as silent heart attacks. Such attacks are common in patients suffering from diabetes mellitus.

The most common warning signs of a heart attack are related to chest discomfort. This discomfort if accompanied with or without breathing difficulty, demands emergency medical attention. This may include crushing pain due to extreme force on and squeezing of the chest. The person may have a feeling of fullness in his chest and this is accompanied by a chest pain or heart burn.

Before a heart attack, certain kinds of discomforts arise in the upper part of the body. The person may feel the pain extending into the jaw and to the left arm or shoulder. There will be pain in the back and feeling of uneasiness in one or both the arms and also in the neck area and stomach.

Severe heart attack warning signs include loss of consciousness and absence of pulse. The pupils of the person may get dilated; and cyanosis ( a bluish discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes. It a sign that oxygen in the blood is critically diminished ) or pallor (Unnatural lack of color in the skin) may also occur. These symptoms are usually 'not-to-be-avoided' alerts for a full cardiac arrest.

Symptoms:

• Chest pain, which is severe, constricting and resembles an angina attack. Also, the patient may seem restless, profusely sweating and be in a state of panic. These also sometimes manifest as heart attack warning signs.
• There maybe symptoms of left heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, ventricular tachycardia, fibrillation or supraventricular tachycardia.
• Weak peripheral pulse, with cold and sweating extremities and visible pallor, accompanied by hypotension. The heart sound maybe muffled.

Treatment:

• The first line of action in heart attack treatment is pain relief. A subcutaneous injection of pain reliever is given. If that fails to act, then a slow intravenous or subcutaneous injection of morphine is given.
• Oxygen is given via a mask. Continuous oxygen administration provides relief by improving myocardial oxygen supply.
• Certain drugs are used for the cure and treatment of heart attack.This includes low dose aspirin, certain sedative drugs, and even anti-anxiety drugs.
• Fibrinolytic therapy is given to patients so as reduce the infarct size. These agents reduce the infarct size and the ventricular damage. They help restore coronary blood flow, thus, salvaging the myocardium. Streptokinase is the most commonly used fibrinolytic agent.
• Complete bed rest is enforced for the first 48 hours after an attack. Also, the patient should be preferably on a low fat diet, which should be a liquid diet for the first few days, and then should be slowly shifted to a semi-solid diet.
• If all these measures fail, then the only option left for a patient of myocardial infarction is surgery. The various surgery options include angioplasty and coronary artery bypass surgery.