Acute myocardial infarction, which affects about 100,000 people in Italy each year, corresponds to the death of a part of the heart muscle due to an interruption in the supply of oxygen and nutrients (ischaemia) caused by the sudden occlusion of a coronary artery.
The damaged portion of heart muscle is the larger the longer the ischaemia lasts: if the affected area is small and action is taken quickly to restore blood flow, the damage is minimal; conversely, if the damage affects a large portion of myocardial tissue, after remission from the acute event, serious chronic heart failure may develop, resulting in varying degrees of disability and a general reduction in quality of life; if the cardiac ischaemia is very extensive and/or is not addressed promptly, the heart will cease to contract, resulting in death.
