A new, precise definition of acute myocardial infarction
Posted by iskanbasal on March 5, 2009
This article from the Cleveland clinic journal of medicine discusses very important issues in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of Myocardial infarction.
“Several international cardiovascular societies have revised their diagnostic criteria for acute myocardial infarction (MI) (J Am Coll Cardiol 2007; 50:2173–2188). The cornerstone of diagnosis remains a high level of clinical suspicion, serial electrocardiograms, and troponin levels. This article reviews the new definition and the appropriate clinical tools necessary to diagnose acute MI accurately”
KEY POINTS The clinical presentation of acute MI varies considerably from patient to patient. Therefore, one must consider the symptoms, serial electrocardiographic findings, and serial biomarker results in concert.
KEY POINTS Troponin I or T is now the preferred biomarker of myocardial necrosis. Still, troponin can be elevated in many conditions other than ischemic heart disease.
KEY POINTS Electrocardiographic signs of acute ischemia have been precisely defined, but electrocardiography can give false-positive or false-negative results in a number of conditions.
KEY POINTS MI is now categorized into five types depending on cause.
Variability is the law of life « AGAPE said
[...] article about the new , precise definition of acute myocardial infarction which I already posted below. The authors Shaun Senter MD and Gary S. Francis MD describe the wide variety of presentation of [...]