Heart Attack
A heart attack (myocardial infarction) occurs when an area of heart muscle dies or is permanently damaged because of an inadequate supply of oxygen to that area.
Usually a clot that block one of the coronary arteries causes a heart attack. The clot usually forms in a coronary artery that has been previously narrowed from changes related to atherosclerosis. The atherosclerotic plaque (buildup) inside the arterial wall sometimes cracks, and this triggers the formation of a clot, also called a thrombus. A clot in the coronary artery interrupts the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart muscle, leading to the death of heart cells in that area (causing a heart attack). The damaged heart muscle loses its ability to contract, and the remaining heart muscle needs to compensate for that weakened area.
It is difficult to estimate exactly how common a heart attack is because as many as 200,000 to 300,000 people in the United States die each year before medical help is sought. It is estimated that approximately 1 million patients visit the hospital each year with a heart attack.
Heart Attack Treatment at Wake Forest Baptist
The Chest Pain Center in the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Emergency Department was created with the knowledge that many people delay treatment for heart attack symptoms. So we've created a system in which we can quickly assess patients with heart attack symptoms and provide life-saving thrombolytics or other treatments. The Wake Forest Baptist Emergency Department utilizes the resources of the Wake Forest Baptist Heart Center, the only heart center in the region nationally ranked by USNews and Good Housekeeping magazines.
Learn more about heart attack symptoms and the Heart Center of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.