Interventions in acute myocardial infarction

Myocardial reperfusion therapy of myocardial infarction (MI) recently has gained widespread clinical acceptance. Because emergency care physicians often have contact with these patients, they must make early decisions regarding this type of therapy. This summary attempts to outline the pathogenesis of acute MI and the pathophysiology of myocardial reperfusion and summarizes the clinical trials of differing methods of achieving coronary reperfusion. With these data, it is hoped that physicians can make decisions offering optimal therapy for patients with myocardial infarction.