What is a myocardial infarction and how is it treated?

A myocardial infarction is a fancy term for a heart attack, which is a common life threatening condition. Just splitting the name up tells us whats happening beneath the surface. Myo means muscle, Cardial refers to the heart and infarction describes a lack of blood flow and hence death of tissue. So a myocardial infarction is a lack of blood flow to the heart which causes the muscle to die. This has the effect of damaging the hearts ability to function which is why it is life threatening.A myocardial infarction should be treated promptly and the definitive treatment is surgery to remove any obstruction to blood flow and hence allow the muscle of the heart to gain oxygen and other nutrients that it requires for normal functioning.