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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffMyocardial ischemia can lead to a number of serious complications, including:
- Heart attack (myocardial infarction). If a coronary artery becomes completely blocked, the lack of blood and oxygen can lead to a heart attack that destroys part of the heart muscle, causing serious and in some cases fatal heart damage.
- Irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia). Your heart muscle needs sufficient oxygen to beat properly. When your heart doesn't receive enough oxygen, the electrical impulses in your heart that coordinate your heartbeats may malfunction, causing your heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly. In some cases, arrhythmias can be life-threatening.
- Heart failure. Myocardial ischemia can damage the heart muscle itself, leading to a reduction in its ability to effectively pump blood to the rest of your body. Over time, this damage may lead to heart failure.
References
- 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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