Myocardial infarction

Abstract

Ischemic heart disease results from an inadequate level of coronary blood flow to meet myocardial oxygen demand. Since the heart extracts oxygen nearly maximally at baseline, increases in myocardial oxygen demand must be met by commensurate increases in coronary blood flow. Myocardial infarction occurs when prolonged occlusion of coronary flow results in myocardial necrosis. Acute coronary syndromes are a family of disorders that share similar pathogenic mechanisms and represent different points along a continuum. They include unstable angina pectoris, non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and sudden cardiac death (SCD).