It is death of a portion of the heart muscle that results from acute blockage of a coronary artery. As its name defines it, it is a “heart attack” because it is a necrosis due to lack of blood and nutrients for too long (about 20 minutes), “acute” because it usually occurs suddenly, and “myocardium” meaning heart muscle. It manifests with the sudden and severe appearance of a picture of ischemic suffering to a part of the heart muscle. The trauma is caused by clogging of the arteries that feed the affected area, particularly the left ventricle, but may extend into the right ventricle or atria.
Causes of acute myocardial infarction
The cause of acute myocardial infarction is usually advanced coronary artery arteriosclerosis. This trauma is manifested by the sudden onset of symptoms such as discomfort in the body, severe pain in the chest and precordial area, fatigue and sweating. The pain may spread to the left arm, shoulder, jaw, back, or neck. Many people do not have any symptoms before they have a heart attack. This is caused by the formation of a thrombus that blocks the lumen of the coronary arteries and is usually independent of the amount of plaque in the artery.
Diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction
Diagnosis is by electrocardiography and finding an increase in cardiac markers. Electrical activity of the heart may indicate recent ischemia, as evidenced by significant ST/T changes or left bundle branch block. Pathologic Q waves may also develop. If the infarction is transmural (involving the entire thickness of the myocardium), the Q waves are usually abnormal, whereas if the infarction is nontransmural (not extending all over the myocardium), they cause only ST-segment and T-wave (ST-T) abnormalities of the electrocardiogram.
In addition to the electrocardiogram, the medical specialist may order imaging studies, angiography, and serology tests.
What is an electrocardiogram?
An electrocardiogram is a test done to determine whether the heart is healthy. This medical study is almost mandatory in cardiology control. It allows recording the rhythm and electrical activity of the heart muscle quickly, easily and painlessly; through the measurement of electrical impulses. This technique allows monitoring of operation:
- The sinoatrial or sinus node is the natural pacemaker that activates each heartbeat.
- The nerve conduction pathways of the heart.
- Heart rate and rhythm.
There are different types of electrocardiogram:
- The standard electrocardiogram: This is done while the patient is at rest.
- Exercise electrocardiography: Done while the person is exercising. Testing can help diagnose coronary artery disease.
What is an electrocardiograph?
The electrocardiograph is an electronic device that captures and expands the electrical activity of the heart, and the information captured is recorded on an electrocardiogram. An electrocardiograph uses electrodes to detect and convert the flow of ions through the heart muscle to electrical current. The recording of this activity is known as the electrocardiogram, where it is observed in the form of a graph that presents various wave-type deflections.
This type of medical equipment is part of the bioinstrumentation in biomedical engineering, which is dedicated to recording specific biosignals of the human body. In its structure it has a preamplifier, which increases the magnitude of the signal to work better with it, filters to clean the signal, a final amplifier and microprocessors for their respective digitization. The working bandwidth range considered suitable for electrocardiogram evaluations is between 0.05 and 150 Hz. There are different types of electrocardiographs, among them are the single channel, multichannel and multichannel with printing.
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