cardiovascular disorders
Overview of Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS)
Symptoms and Signs of Acute Coronary Syndromes
Symptoms of acute coronary syndromes depend somewhat on the extent and location of obstruction and are quite variable. Painful stimuli from thoracic organs, including the heart, can cause discomfort described as pressure, tearing, gas with the urge to eructate, indigestion, burning, aching, stabbing, and sometimes sharp needle-like pain. Many patients deny they are having pain and insist it is merely “discomfort.” Except when infarction is massive, recognizing the amount of ischemia by symptoms alone is difficult. Symptoms of ACS are similar to those of Symptoms and Signs and are discussed in more detail in sections on After the acute event, many Complications of Acute Coronary Syndromes can occur. They usually involve Electrical dysfunction (eg, Overview of Arrhythmias , Myocardial dysfunction (eg, Heart Failure (HF) , interventricular septum or free wall rupture, ventricular aneurysm, pseudoaneurysm, mural thrombus formation, Valvular dysfunction (typically Mitral Regurgitation ) Electrical dysfunction can be significant in any form of ACS, but usually, large parts of myocardium must be ischemic to cause significant myocardial dysfunction. Other complications of ACS include recurrent ischemia and pericarditis. Pericarditis that occurs 2 to 10 weeks after an MI is known as 