The Complications of Post-Myocardial Infarction

Question 1 

John is suffering from Myocardial ischemia, a condition that occurs when enough oxygen and blood flow is restricted from reaching the heart muscle. The condition is also known as cardiac ischemia whose symptoms are different from those of silent ischemia. It is characterized with several symptoms that John displayed in this case study, including nausea, shortness of breath, neck and jaw pain as well as increased heartbeat rate.

Question 2 

A STEMI heart attack is defined as total blocking of the coronary artery by blood clot preventing blood from reaching the heart. On the other hand, a non-STEMI heart attack is a less serious case caused by narrowing of the artery without completely blocking it that results in heart muscle death. These conditions should be recognized quickly and treated by emergency angioplasty and stenting ( Dong et al., 2015). 

Question 3 

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a sudden ischemic death of the myocardial tissue indicating an irreversible myocardial injury. As such, the condition results from an ischemic injury caused by narrowing of arteries and complete obstruction by blood clots. Unstable angina has similar characteristics with myocardial infarction including plague progression, disruption, and clot formation. An infarct occurs when the blood vessel is blocked for a longer period, affecting flow of oxygen to the heart.

Question 4 

Cardiac ischemia occurs as a result of lack of oxygen in the heart due to restricted blood flow. The condition arises when the coronary artery is blocked or narrowed due to blood clot, which affects blood flow and transfer of oxygen to the heart. A heart attack occurs when there is severe cardiac ischemia affecting the heart tissue ( Gutterman, 2009) . On the other hand, angina pectoris is a term for chest pain or discomfort due to a temporary blood shortage to the heart. A silent ischemia refers to a case where a person does not experience pain due to temporary blood shortage to the heart.

Question 5 

Sudden cardiac death is the first clinical manifestation of heart disease. Many factors can increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. The main factors are the previous heart attack and coronary artery disease ( Virmani, Burke & Farb, 2001) . There is a risk of getting an SCD if a person has a history of a heart attack. At the same time, factors such as family history and smoking cause coronary artery disease that increases the risk of SCD. Depression has also been seen as a factor to the sudden cardiac death.

Question 6 

The complications of post-myocardial infarction include arrhythmic, mechanical and inflammatory sequelae. Some of the mechanical complications of post-MI include valve dysfunction, heart failure, cardiac rupture or cardiogenic shock. Other complications include angina re-infarction, ventricular arrhythmias and peripheral or CNS embolization.

References

Dong, L., Mintz, G. S., Witzenbichler, B., Metzger, D. C., Rinaldi, M. J., Duffy, P. L., ... & Xu, K. (2015). Comparison of plaque characteristics in narrowings with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-STEMI/unstable angina pectoris and stable coronary artery disease (from the ADAPT-DES IVUS Substudy).  The American journal of cardiology ,  115 (7), 860-866. 

Gutterman, D. D. (2009). Silent myocardial ischemia.  Circulation journal ,  73 (5), 785-797. 

Virmani, R., Burke, A. P., & Farb, A. (2001). Sudden cardiac death.  Cardiovascular pathology ,  10 (5), 211-218.