To better understand why the consequences of myocardial infarction are so serious, let's figure out what this serious disease is, which is getting younger and taking more lives every year. What triggers dangerous symptoms?
Myocardial infarction - consequences of atherosclerosis
Before myocardial infarction occurs, there is a violation of blood supply in the muscle layer of the heart as a result of blockage of blood vessels, which, in turn, leads to the necrosis of these tissues. This pathology requires urgent treatment, otherwise its consequences will lead not only to disability, but also to death.
The main cause of these disorders is atherosclerosis - a disease of the coronary arteries that feed the heart muscle. It manifests itself in the narrowing of the lumen of the blood vessels, and this, in turn, leads to a chronic lack of oxygen in the part of the heart muscle that they feed. At the moment of pulsation, deformed arteries that have lost their elasticity can crack, which triggersthrombus formation process. It closes the lumen completely, and the tissue that has lost nutrition begins to die, giving rise to an acute myocardial infarction.
Myocardial infarction: causes and consequences of the disease
According to bitter statistics, about half of people who have had a heart attack die within the first hours. All this happens because the disease most severely affects the entire body. In survivors, a scar forms at the site of necrosis of the heart tissue, due to which the heart muscle will never be able to function as productively as before.
After a heart attack creates foci of intracardiac conduction disturbances, causing disruptions in the rhythm of the heart. The appearance of paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation can later cause acute heart failure.
There are other equally severe pathologies caused by a heart attack.
Sequelae of myocardial infarction – pulmonary edema and cardiac asthma
Against the backdrop of a heart attack due to a violation of pressure in the left ventricle of the heart, the so-called left ventricular failure is formed, which entails an increase in pressure in the vessels of the lungs and the release of blood from them into the lung tissue. All this provokes pulmonary edema, causing an asthma attack in the patient.
The consequences of myocardial infarction - heart rupture and blockage of the pulmonary artery
Rupture of the heart is the rarest consequence of this disease, and its mortality rate is 100%. It occurs in the first days of a heart attack,manifested by severe pain, not amenable to the action of analgesics, and a picture of cardiogenic shock. Cardiac tamponade causes it to quickly stop, which leads to death.
An equally serious consequence is blockage of the pulmonary artery, which is caused by a blood clot that enters it from the right ventricle of the heart. Blockage also results in instant death.
The consequences of myocardial infarction - disruption of the internal organs
Due to circulatory disorders against the background of a heart attack, paresis of the digestive tract, ulcers and erosion of its mucous membrane, as well as atony of the bladder may occur. All these diseases are called abdominal syndrome and develop in the acute period of a heart attack.
No less frequent are mental disorders that are more characteristic of older people. They are manifested by depression alternating with euphoria and are associated with hypoxia and thrombosis of cerebral vessels that occurred against the background of a heart attack.
