Acute myocardial infarction

If severe pain and one of the symptoms listed above occur, it is advisable to call the emergency services 118 immediately to get first aid within minutes: while waiting for the ambulance, you should remain in a supine position and, if possible, take medication such as Carvasin, Trinitrin or Natispray.

If the pain is not severe and there are no other abnormalities, it is best to be escorted to the emergency room or contact your physician immediately.

After admission to the emergency room, the physician will assess the degree of urgency and subject the patient to:

• a thorough examination;
• one or more electrocardiograms (to look for signs of cardiac distress);
• some blood samples.

At this stage it is important to provide all the information about the type of pain experienced, the mode of onset and the drugs taken, showing any electrocardiograms or past cardiological examinations.
If the patient is hospitalized for a few hours it is to exclude with greater certainty cardiac causes from the symptoms complained of. In these cases, the following exams are performed:

• chest X-ray;
• echocardiogram;
• myocardial enzyme monitoring;
• telemetry electrocardiography focused on possible ischemia.

If the assessed risk is minimal, the procedure is completed. Otherwise, during another assessment, the physicians make a diagnosis and determine the most appropriate department for hospitalization: Coronary Disease Unit, Semi-Intensive Coronary Care Unit or Emergency Department.

If there is a desire to add additional tests to the diagnostic algorithm, an Outpatient Assessment Unit is involved, which takes responsibility for several days of diagnostic tests (stress test, stress-echocardiography, ECG Holter monitoring), at the end of which the cardiologist gives the final assessment.

Death from a heart attack occurs in most patients before arrival at the hospital, mostly due to arrhythmia. Timely arrival to an equipped medical center, in turn, allows not only to combat complications, but, most importantly, to perform urgent revascularization with an excellent opportunity to noticeably reduce the consequences of the heart attack.