New insights into mechanisms of acute myocardial infarction: A journey of 100 years

摘要

In Singapore, there were 7813 patients who suffered from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the Year 2011, among whom 2100 (26.9%) had ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Much knowledge has been gained since the early description of the mechanism of AMI by Dr James Bryan Herrick who published in 1912 that thrombosis in the coronary artery led to the symptoms and consequences of heart attack and that this was not inevitably fatal. Interestingly, he also said that, "the hope for the damaged myocardium lies in the direction of securing a supply of blood through friendly neighbouring vessels so as to restore so far as possible its functional integrity"-a concept which we now called collaterals formation.