Myocardial infarction, commonly referred to as heart
attack, is the sudden death of part of the heart due to
the loss of blood flow. This occurs when one of the
coronary artery – the arteries that supply blood to the
heart – is blocked
The blockage is commonly due the atherosclerosis –
cholesterol plaques/ fat deposit on the wall of blood
vessels. As the plaques builds up, the vessels become
narrow, restricting blood flow.
Under stress, the plaque may rupture. This triggers
formation of blood clot on top of the plaque, leading to
complete blockage of blood flow
When this happens to a coronary artery, the
downstream patch of the myocardium dies from lack of
oxygen. Weaken heart muscle may disrupt electrical
activity of the heart and subsequently cause cardiac
arrest.
Coronary angioplasty is a non-surgical procedure used
to open narrowed or blocked coronary arteries. It can
also be performed as an emergency treatment for
myocardial infarction
The first part of the procedure is to localize the site of
the blockage. This part is called cardiac catheterization.
A guiding catheter is inserted through the femoral
artery at the groin and threaded all the way to the aorta
The tip of the catheter is placed at the beginning of the
coronary artery to be investigated. A radio-opaque dye
is injected through the catheter into the coronary
artery. This enables real-time visualization of the artery
using X-ray imaging
A narrow part of an artery would appear as a bottle
neck on an X-ray image. After the location of narrowed
artery is identified, angioplasty can begin
A guide wire with a deflated balloon is inserted and
pushed to the location of blockage. The balloon is
inflated to crush the plaque.
At the end of the procedure, the balloon is again
deflated and removed together will all catheter and
guidewire. In some cases, a stent is inserted together
with the balloon, inflated and left in place of the plaque
to keep the artery open permanently.
Angioplasty: tạo hình mạch/nong mạch
Coronary artery: động mạch vành
Atherosclerosis: xơ vữa
Plaque: mảng
Rupture: gián đoạn
Blood clot: máu đông
Myocardium: cơ tim
Cardiac arrest: ngưng tim
Catheterization: đặt ống thông
radio-opaque dye: nhuộm cản tia X
femoral artery: động mạch đùi