CAD increases the risk of a heart attack even if it hasn’t caused any other symptoms before. People who have already had a heart attack are more likely to have (further) heart attacks.
Heart attacks happen if a coronary artery becomes completely blocked or almost completely blocked. The blockage stops part of the heart muscle from getting enough oxygen. If this goes on for too long, that part of the heart muscle dies and the situation becomes life-threatening. It is then important to get medical help immediately.
But the odds of surviving a heart attack are good: Most people in Germany and many other countries survive heart attacks nowadays.
There are two main types of heart attack. Doctors call them
- ST segment elevation myocardial infarctions (STEMI) and
- non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarctions (NSTEMI).
A heartbeat is seen as a wave-like form on an electrocardiogram (ECG). In STEMI, a certain part of the wave is abnormal. In NSTEMI, this part of the wave is normal.
Most heart attacks are treated using a thin flexible tube called a cardiac (heart) catheter. This procedure is known as angioplasty. The blood clot that blocked the coronary artery can sometimes be broken up and removed by fast-acting medication given through a drip (thrombolysis).
Medication is also needed afterwards. This is firstly meant to prevent another heart attack and to lower the risk of other complications. Having a heart attack is itself associated with further complications: It can leave behind a scar in the heart tissue that causes arrhythmias that can lead to sudden cardiac death months or even years later, especially if the heart was permanently weakened by the heart attack.
That is why a defibrillator is recommended in addition to the medication. It can effectively prevent life-threatening complications. The tissue around the scar can also be removed (catheter ablation) to lower the risk of arrhythmias being triggered there.