Symptoms generally begin with prolonged chest pain often in combination with nausea and loss of consciousness. Sustained pain of variable intensity may radiate to the throat, jaws, arms and back. In women, back pain is a typical accompanying symptom.
Optimal management requires prompt and accurate diagnosis followed by appropriate medical attention.
The goal of therapy is to restore blood flow to the affected area as quickly as possible. In acute infarcts of major arteries, intravenous thrombolytic therapy with drugs capable of dissolving thrombi can be used. Partial occlusions or occlusions in minor heart vessels may be removed physically by balloon angioplasty, a technique in which a catheter is directed into the heart and the balloon inflated, thereby widening the blocked artery. Alternately, blood supply to the myocardium may be increased by coronary artery bypass graft surgery where the heart arteries are replaced or bypassed with vessels removed from the patients leg. Since coronary atherosclerosis is the underlying cause of the majority of AMI cases, prevention should be aimed at reducing risk factors for this condition.