Physiology And Pathophysiology Of Myocardial Infarction Essay

Diagnosing myocardial infarction in critically ill patients is challenging [1]. Ischaemic chest pain is uncommon due to analgesic use and communication of ischaemic symptoms – when

Cook County was having more patients than it could handle complaining about chest pain. Also, determining if the pain could be a heart attack was a very inefficient and a long process with too much information. So they streamlined the process, mainly considering 4 things which were the EGG, fluid in lungs, systolic pressure, and unstable angina. The results were more accurate and saved time. This showed that, sometimes with too much information, there is too much of the complicaticated information and an answer can’t be reached and with less information a correct answer can be reached quickly.

Chest pain is a frequent cause of emergency department presentation. Many times, chest pain can be an indicator of myocardial infarction. Yearly, about 600,000 people die of heart disease in the United States, with a total of about 700,000 having a myocardial infarction. The leading source of death for both men and women is heart disease ("Heart disease facts," 2014). Managing the challenging clinical problems of those presenting with chest pain can be demanding. While clinical judgment is imperative in managing these patients, rapid treatment protocols to evaluate risk

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a new best practice, the necessary steps for implementing the new practice, and support this change in practice with current literature. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines regarding patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) seek to reduce variation in practice and improve outcomes for this patient population (O 'Gara et al., 2013). Current evidence-based practice includes immediate reperfusion therapy to the involved coronary artery in this patient population. However, it is often challenging for emergency department nurses to implement the initial steps of this evidence-based practice, which includes obtaining a 12-lead electrocardiogram within ten minutes of arrival, as some patients present with symptoms other than chest pain, or atypical symptoms. For instance, atypical presentations include shortness of breath, altered mental status, upper extremity pain, upper back pain, generalized weakness, and abdominal pain (Glickman et al., 2012). Ultimately, this results in delays of reperfusion therapy.

As the severity of plaque builds up the signs and symptoms may vary. Emotional stress can flare

Chest pain is a very common symptom, and around 20% to 40% of the general population will experience chest pain in their lives(149). In the UK, up to 2 % of visits to a general practitioner are due to new onset chest pain (150). Approximately 5% of visits to the emergency department are due to a complaint of chest pain, and up to 40% of emergency hospital admissions are the result of chest pain(149, 151). Approximately 52,000 new cases of angina per year are diagnosed in men and 43,000 in women. The incidence of angina increases with age(123).

Acute coronary syndrome encompasses patients diagnosed with unstable angina, non-ST elevation myocardial infarction, and ST-elevation myocardial infarction (Amsterdam et al., 2014). Per the American College of Cardiology (2014), a rapid evaluation to identify life-threatening cardiac conditions is imperative for patients presenting to emergency departments with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome and an electrocardiogram is an essential tool for diagnosis (Amsterdam et al., 2014). Patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction have a 7.4% increase in risk of mortality with every half-hour that passes before implementing appropriate reperfusion therapy (Omar, Helal, Mangar,

Coronary disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 796,494 men and women between the age of (<) 1yr to 85 and older expired due to major cardiovascular disease (Deaths: Final Data for 2013, table 10, 2015) . This disease has a natural cradle-to-grave course of action that may consist of “susceptibility, presymptomatic disease, clinical disease, recovery disable and/or death” (Mills, 2015).

Preoperative ECG remains the optimal baseline comparison in the event of a postoperative MI, and without it timely diagnosis of a cardiac event may be hampered (Payne et al 2011). New noninvasive cardiac tests , such as stress echocardiography , are fairly sensitive methods for predicting cardiac risk (Kerati et al 2003) and the preoperative use of cardiac biomarkers, such as B-type natriuretic peptide, provide additional risk stratification in patients with ischemic heart disease and general population ( Gibson 2007 ) but such tests have limited availability and expensive.

The risk factors of heart attacks are a leading killer of both men and women in the United States. “Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women, and more than 900,000 Americans experience a heart attack every year” (Damlo, 2007, p. 1096-1101). According to the American Heart Association, “heart attack is a sudden and sometimes fatal occurrence of coronary

Around every thirty-four seconds in the United States, another individual falls as a victim to a myocardial infraction. A myocardial infraction or more commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood flow that brings the oxygen to the heart is reduced or cut off completely. When the blood cannot reach parts of your heart, that area is becoming damaged or unfortunately if treatment is prolonged for too long then the heart cells will most likely die. Heart attacks can occur in anybody no matter the age, gender, or nationality, but statistically “men over the age of 45 and to women over the age of 55 are at the greatest risk of a heart attack” (Ricciotti).

Chest pain is among the most every now and again assessed introducing complaints in the emergency department (ED). Diagnostic etiologies range from benign to life-debilitating. Inability to diagnose the life-debilitating chest emergencies can prompt to catastrophic medical and legal results for the patient and physician separately (Boie, 2005).

In my opinion, it is advantageous to have such guidelines that are reviewed yearly (‘Chest pain of recent onset’ was reviewed in December 2014) as it ensures the best care is provided for the patient, as well as highlighting areas of improvement for the multidisciplinary team. There are of course drawbacks to such a system of management based on set guidelines, as they may not always cater for all patients; examples of which will be discussed further on in this essay.

Whilst in hospital the pain worsened and troponin and ECG tests (which originally were normal) showed signs of a STEMI – raised troponin and ST-elevation suggesting an anterolateral myocardial infarction

A myocardial infarction otherwise known as an MI or heart attack can happen to anyone at any time. It is very important for people of all generations, sexes, and origin to know the signs and symptoms of an acute myocardial infarction. The signs of an MI may be different from person to person and no two people will share the same exact symptoms; therefore, knowing what to watch out for is the best form of education a patient can have. The amount of time a patient seeks treatment before the blood flow is completely obstructed and the heart muscle begins to die is a very important part of the treatment for an MI. If the heart muscle becomes hypoxic or damaged during a heart attack it heals by forming scar tissue. The heart will still work; however, it will have to work harder to compensate for what it has lost. Every year in the United States thousands of people not only survive a heart attack, but go on to live a very healthy and normal life. The amount of time it takes for a person to get to the emergency department is one of the biggest factors in determining how long it will take for someone to recover after a myocardial infarction (American Heart Association, 2015).