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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Myocardial ischemia occurs when blood flow to your heart muscle is decreased by a partial or complete blockage of your heart's arteries (coronary arteries). The decrease in blood flow reduces your heart's oxygen supply.
Myocardial ischemia, also called cardiac ischemia, can damage your heart muscle, reducing its ability to pump efficiently. A sudden, severe blockage of a coronary artery may lead to a heart attack. Myocardial ischemia may also cause serious abnormal heart rhythms.
Treatment for myocardial ischemia is directed at improving blood flow to the heart muscle and may include medications, a procedure to open blocked arteries or coronary artery bypass surgery. Making heart-healthy lifestyle choices is important in treating and preventing myocardial ischemia.
- Deedwanla PC. Silent myocardial ischemia: Prognosis and therapy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index. Accessed March 22, 2012.
- Deedwanla PC. Silent myocardial ischemia: Epidemiology and pathogenesis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index. Accessed March 22, 2012.
- Goldberger AL. Electrocardiogram in the diagnosis of myocardial ischemia and infarction. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index. Accessed March 22, 2012.
- Deedwanla PC. Silent myocardial ischemia: Diagnosis and screening. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index. Accessed March 22, 2012.
- Cardiac biomarkers. American Association for Clinical Chemistry. http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/cardiac_biomarkers/glance.html. Accessed March 22, 2012.
- Bonow RO, et al. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4377-0398-6..C2009-0-59734-6--TOP&isbn=978-1-4377-0398-6&about=true&uniqId=236798031-10. Accessed March 22, 2012.
- Lanza GA, et al. Mechanisms of coronary artery spasm. Circulation. 2011;124:1774.
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