The key difference between ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction is that in ischemic heart disease, the heart is starved of oxygen due to a reduced blood supply, while in myocardial infarction, the heart muscle begins to die as it does not get enough blood supply.
Ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction are two medical emergency heart conditions. Both these conditions can occur due to reduced blood flow to the heart. Therefore, these medical emergency conditions should be treated immediately by a heart surgeon through surgeries.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Ischemic Heart Disease
3. What is Myocardial Infarction
4. Similarities – Ischemic Heart Disease and Myocardial Infarction
5. Ischemic Heart Disease vs Myocardial Infarction in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Ischemic Heart Disease vs Myocardial Infarction
What is Ischemic Heart Disease?
Ischemic heart disease is a heart condition in which the heart is deprived of the required oxygen level. This is due to reduced blood flow to the heart. Most often, this condition is due to the build-up of plaque or fatty material in the wall of one of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. When these plaques enlarge, it further obstructs the blood flow, depriving the heart of oxygen and nutrients. The common symptoms of ischemic heart disease may include chest pain or angina, shortness of breath, fatigue, sweating, and palpitation. Some people may get silent ischemic heart disease, which is due to not exhibiting any symptoms though they are deprived of oxygen in the heart.
Figure 01: Ischemic Heart Disease
Moreover, ischemic heart disease can be diagnosed through medical history, physical examination, blood test, electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiogram, stress test, cardiac catheterization, and heart scan. Furthermore, treatment options for ischemic heart disease may include lifestyle changes, medications (organic nitrates, beta-blockers, statins, and aspirin), cardiac devices (pacemaker and defibrillator), and surgery (coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and angioplasty).
What is Myocardial Infarction?
Myocardial infarction is commonly known as a heart attack. It is an extremely dangerous heart condition. Myocardial infarction happens because of the lack of blood flow to the heart muscles. Without blood flow, the affected heart muscle will begin to die. This condition can occur due to blockage in one of the vessels that supply blood to the heart due to atherosclerosis. In rare conditions, it can also occur due to health conditions like coronary artery spasm, rare medical conditions, trauma, embolism, electrolyte imbalance, eating disorders, Takotsubo or stress cardiomyopathy, or anomalous coronary arteries. Moreover, the symptoms of myocardial infarction may include chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, insomnia, nausea or stomach discomfort, heart palpitation, anxiety, sweating, and feeling lightheaded.
Figure 02: Myocardial Infarction
Myocardial infarction can be diagnosed through medical history, blood tests, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, angiogram, heart CT scan, or MRI and nuclear heart scan. Furthermore, treatment options for myocardial infarction are supplementation of oxygen, medications (anticlotting medicines, nitroglycerin, thrombolytic medicines, anti-arrhythmia medicines, and pain medicines), percutaneous coronary intervention, and coronary artery bypass grafting.
What are the Similarities Between Ischemic Heart Disease and Myocardial Infarction?
- Ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction are two medical emergency heart conditions.
- Both these conditions can occur due to reduced blood flow to the heart.
- Both these conditions may have similar symptoms, such as chest pain and breathing difficulties.
- Both these conditions can be diagnosed through medical history, physical examination, imaging scans, etc.
- They are treated through specific medications and surgeries.
What is the Difference Between Ischemic Heart Disease and Myocardial Infarction?
Ischemic heart disease is a medical emergency heart condition in which the heart is starved of oxygen due to a reduced blood supply, while myocardial infarction is a medical emergency heart condition in which the heart muscle begins to die because of not getting enough blood supply. Thus, this is the key difference between ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction. Furthermore, ischemic heart disease is caused due to blockage of blood vessels of the heart by atherosclerosis. On the other hand, myocardial infarction is caused due to blockage of the blood vessels of the heart due to atherosclerosis or health conditions like coronary artery spasm, rare medical conditions, trauma, embolism, electrolyte imbalance, eating disorders, Takotsubo or stress cardiomyopathy or anomalous coronary arteries.
The below infographic presents the differences between ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Ischemic Heart Disease vs Myocardial Infarction
Ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction are two critical medical conditions that affect the heart. Both these conditions are due to reduced blood flow to the heart. However, in ischemic heart disease, the heart is starved of oxygen due to a reduced blood supply. In myocardial infarction, the heart muscle begins to die when it does not get enough blood supply. So, this is the key difference between ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction.
Reference:
1. “Heart Attack: Symptoms, Causes and Recovery.” Cleveland Clinic.
2. “Ischemic Heart Disease Treatment.” The University of Vermont Health Network.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Histopathology of interstitial fibrosis of chronic ischemic heart disease” By Mikael Häggström, M.D. – Own work (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Depiction of a person suffering from a heart attack (Myocardial Infarction)” By MyUpChar (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
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