Acute myocardial infarction:Aheart attack.
The term "myocardial infarction" focuses on theheart muscle, which is called the myocardium,and the changes that occur in it due to the sudden deprivation of circulating blood. This is usually caused byarteriosclerosiswith narrowing of thecoronary arteries, the culminating event being athrombosis(clot). The main change is death (necrosis) of myocardial tissue.
The word "infarction" comes from the Latin "infarcire" meaning "to plug up or cram." It refers to the clogging of the artery, which is frequently initiated bycholesterolpiling up on the inner wall of the blood vessels that distribute blood to the heart muscle.
