Myocardial infarction

Diagnosis

Normally, a doctor should assess you for risk factors for heart attacks during routine exams. In an emergency situation, a heart attack is frequently identified. If you’ve had or are experiencing a heart attack, doctors will treat you right away.

In order to diagnose a heart attack, blood pressure, pulse, and temperature are taken. Tests are performed to examine the heart’s overall health and the rate at which it beats.

Heart attack diagnosis tests include the following:

• Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). This initial test for heart attack diagnosis which will capture electrical signals as they move through the heart. Electrodes with sticky patches are placed to the chest, and occasionally the arms and legs. Waves that are displayed on a monitor or printed on paper are used to record the heart’s signals. If you are experiencing or previously had a heart attack, an ECG can detect it.
• Blood tests. With cardiac damage following a heart attack, some heart proteins gradually leak into the circulation. These proteins can be examined via blood testing (cardiac markers).
• Chest X-ray. The size and condition of the heart and lungs can be seen on a chest X-ray.
• Echocardiogram. Ultrasound produces images of the beating heart and can demonstrate how the heart and heart valves function, and determining the heart’s damage.
• Coronary catheterization (angiogram). In order to reach the heart, a long, thin tube (catheter) is placed into an artery, typically through the groin area. In order to improve the visibility of the arteries on test images, dye runs via the catheter.
• Cardiac Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).  Images of the heart and chest are produced by these tests. X-rays are used in cardiac CT scans. A magnetic field and radio waves are used in cardiac MRI to produce images of your heart. You typically lie on a table that glides within a long, tube-like machine for both examinations which aid in demonstrating the extent of heart damage.

Treatment

Following a cardiac attack, more heart tissue is harmed or dies every minute. Blood flow needs to be fixed immediately in order to increase the oxygen levels. Oxygen is administered right away. Whether there is a partial or total blockage of blood flow will determine the specific heart attack treatment.

Medications

These are the medication used treat a heart attack.

• Aspirin. Blood clotting is reduced by aspirin. It aids in maintaining blood flow through a constricted artery. You might have been instructed to swallow aspirin if you contacted an emergency contact number.
• Thrombolytics or fibrinolytics. These medications aid in dissolving any blood clots obstructing the heart’s blood supply. Following a heart attack, the sooner thrombolytic medication is administered, the less the heart is harmed and the higher the likelihood of survival.
• Other blood-thinning medications. Heparin is a medication that can be injected or given intravenously. Heparin reduces blood clotting risk by making the blood less sticky.
• Nitroglycerin. The blood vessels are widened by this drug. It enhances the heart’s ability to receive blood. Sudden chest pain (angina) can be treated with nitroglycerin. It can be administered as an injection, a pill to swallow, or a pill under the tongue.
• Morphine. Chest pain that does not go away with nitroglycerin is treated with this medication.
• Beta blockers. These drugs lower blood pressure and slow the heartbeat. Beta blockers can reduce the degree of heart muscle deterioration and stop more heart attacks. Most people who are suffering a heart attack receive them.
• ACE inhibitors. These medications lessen heart stress by lowering blood pressure.
• Statins. These medications aid in reducing high cholesterol levels. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, or bad cholesterol, when in excess, can clog arteries.

Surgery and other procedures

A surgery or procedure to unblock a clogged artery may be performed if you’ve suffered a heart attack. The following surgeries and processes are used to treat a heart attack:

• Coronary angioplasty and stenting. The aim of this surgery is to clear blocked cardiac arteries, also known as Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI). This technique is frequently carried out if you’ve had a heart attack as part of a procedure to locate blockages (cardiac catheterization).

A cardiologist directs a thin, flexible tube (catheter) to the constricted area of the heart artery during angioplasty. To help expand the narrowed artery and enhance blood flow, a small balloon is inflated.

During angioplasty, a tiny wire-mesh tube (stent) may be inserted into the artery. The artery is kept open by the stent. It lessens the possibility of the artery narrowing once more. Some stents have a drug coating that keeps the arteries open.

• Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery (CABG). This is an open-heart surgery to construct a new pathway for blood in the heart, a surgeon pulls a healthy blood artery from another section of the body. The blocked or constricted coronary artery is then bypassed. When a person is having a heart attack, CABG may be performed as an urgent procedure.

Cardiac rehabilitation

After having heart surgery, patients can learn how to enhance their heart health through cardiac rehabilitation which focuses on stress reduction, physical activity, a heart-healthy diet, and a gradual return to regular activities. Majority of hospitals start their cardiac rehabilitation patients there.

After a heart attack, those who participate in cardiac rehab live longer and are less likely to experience problems or have another heart attack.