Diagnosis and management of acute myocardial infarction: An overview

Abstract

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) occurs when there is acute disruption of coronary blood flow, resulting in a sudden imbalance between myocardial oxygen demand and supply, which causes ischemia and necrosis. AMI accounts for the highest mortality rate of approximately 15% worldwide. The acute complications of AMI, including cardiac arrhythmias, tolls almost 50% deaths, which may occur on the way to the hospital. The effective treatment modalities for AMI include antianginal medications and reperfusion with thrombolytics (tissue plasminogen activator) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). PCI is the established and widely used reperfusion technique in the management of AMI as thrombolytics are contraindicated in many patients. PCI is superior to thrombolytics with a higher reperfusion rate of approximately 90%, shorter hospital stay, and lowering the mortality rate. The intervention performed within 90 min of hospital arrival improves the clinical outcomes significantly. In this article, major updates in diagnosis and treatment modalities of AMI have been summarized, mainly focusing on the efficacy of PCI in improving the clinical outcomes.

Keywords

• acute myocardial infarction
• clinical outcomes
• percutaneous coronary intervention
• thrombolytics (tissue plasminogen activator)