Myocardial infarction (MI) is the irreversible necrosis of heart muscle secondary toprolonged ischemia.

This usually

results from an imbalance of oxygen supply anddemand. The appearance of cardiac enzymes in the circulation

generally indicatesmyocardial necrosis. Cause of myocardial infarction ±atherosclerosis is more commonamong

men than women. The higher prevalence of atherosclerosis in men is thought tobe due to the protective effects of the

female sex hormones. This sex effect is absent aftermenopause in women. The incidence of coronary heart disease

among women parallelsthat of men, but women demonstrate an approximately 10-year chronological delay in

theonset of clinical manifestations.

Cardiovascular diseases cause 12 million deaths throughout the world each year,according to the third monitoring

report of the World Health Organization, 1991-93.They cause half of all deaths in several developed countries and

are one of the maincauses of death in many developing countries; they are the major cause of death in

adultseverywhere

Myocardial infarction is a common presentation of ischemic heart disease. The WHO estimated that in 2002, 12.6%
of deaths worldwide were from ischemic heart disease. Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in
developed countries, but third toAIDS and lower respiratory infections in developing countries.
In the United States, diseases of the heart are the leading cause of death, causing a highermortalit y than
cancer(malignant neoplasms). Coronary heart disease is responsible for 1 in 5 deaths in the U.S... Some
7,200,000 men and 6,000,000 women are living with some form of coronary heart disease. 1,200,000
people suffer a (new or recurrent) coronary attack every year, and about 40% of them die as a result of the
attack. This means that roughly every 65 seconds, an American dies of a coronary event.

Acute myocardial infarction … … … total21 252male13 886 female7366 yr1998source6

1998 Philippine Health Statistics, National Epidemiology Center – Department of Health (DOH)