NEWS FEATURES . Heart Attack, Angina and Cardiac Arrest ARTICLE
Heart Attack, Angina and Cardiac Arrest The basic steps to ensure patient safety
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espite the fact that there are some differences between a heart attack, angina and cardiac arrest, they seem to be correlated in a way as most heart attacks do not lead to cardiac arrest. However, when cardiac arrest happens, a heart attack is a common cause. There is a lot of confusion between heart attack and cardiac arrest, but they may both have the same symptoms. Although angina and heart attack are caused by arterial blockage, and the main difference between angina and a heart attack is that a heart attack causes damage to the heart muscle, and angina does not. A heart attack occurs when blood flow to the heart is blocked. The blockage is most often a buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances, which form a plaque in the coronary arteries that feed the heart. Sometimes, a plaque can rupture and form a clot that blocks blood flow. The interrupted blood flow can damage or de-
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stroy part of the heart muscle. Angina is a type of chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart. Its pain is not sudden like a heart attack, but it is present and the patient can feel it. While the chances of survival for a person who suffers from a heart attack and a cardiac arrest vary widely, about 90 percent of people who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest die. Also, there is no guarantee that someone will survive from being given CPR. Also, a heart attack is considered less serious; the blocked artery can be opened quickly with the appropriate treatment.
Heart Attack It occurs when there is a sudden blockage in the arteries that supply blood to the heart. With time, the heart muscle begins to die because it isn’t getting enough blood flow. Doctors use the term myocardial infarction to refer to a heart attack. When a patient suffers from a heart attack,
A HEART ATTACK OCCURS WHEN BLOOD FLOW TO THE HEART IS BLOCKED. THE BLOCKAGE IS MOST OFTEN A BUILDUP OF FAT, CHOLESTEROL AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, WHICH FORM A PLAQUE IN THE CORONARY ARTERIES THAT FEED THE HEART.
