Heart Attack (cont.)
Daniel Lee Kulick, MD, FACC, FSCAI
Dr. Kulick received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. He performed his residency in internal medicine at the Harbor-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center and a fellowship in the section of cardiology at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology.
Jay W. Marks, MD
Jay W. Marks, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
In this Article
- Heart attack facts
- What is a heart attack?
- What causes a heart attack?
- What are the symptoms of a heart attack?
- What are the complications of a heart attack?
- What are the risk factors for atherosclerosis and heart attack?
- How is a heart attack diagnosed?
- What is the treatment for heart attack?
- What about heart attacks in women?
- What are the risk factors for heart attack in women?
- What are the symptoms of heart attack in women and how is heart attack diagnosed?
- How is heart attack in women treated?
- What about hormone therapy and heart attack in women?
- What is new in heart attack?
What is new in heart attack?
Greater public awareness about heart attacks and changes in lifestyle have contributed to a dramatic reduction in the incidence of heart attacks during the last four decades. The role of the "super aspirins" (abciximab [Reopro] and eptifibatide [Integrilin]) has been established to be of benefit in selected patients.
More effective versions of clot-busting drugs have been developed. Increasingly, paramedics can do ECGs in the field, diagnose a heart attack, and take patients directly to hospitals that have the ability to do PTCA and stenting. This can save time and reduce damage to the heart. At present, the accepted best treatment for a heart attack is identification promptly of the diagnosis, and transport to a hospital that can perform prompt catheterization and PTCA or stenting within the first 90 minutes of the cardiac event (see 2013 guidelines above).
Recent data has shown that lowering blood LDL levels even further than previously suggested may further decrease the risk of heart attacks.
Research also has shown that inflammation may play a role in the development of atherosclerosis, and this is an active area of current investigation. There also is early evidence that with genetic engineering it may be possible to develop a drug that can be administered to clear plaques from arteries (a "scavenger molecule").
Click here to read the Heart Attack Treatment article.
REFERENCES:
Kushner, F. G. et al. 2013 ACCF/AHA Guideline for the Management of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction. Circulation. January 29, 2013 vol. 127 no. 4 e362-e425.
Lab Tests Online. Troponins.
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