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Miocardial Infarction Tests for Heart Attack.
If someone is unfortunate enough to suffer a heart attack,
what sort of tests would be carried out to show whether they
were having a heart attack ie Miocardial Infarction or not?
A range of investigations would be carried out in order to
fully assess their heart condition and their likelihood of
having had an Myocardial Infarction (MI). In all cases it is better to test when there are indications, rather than miss an MI occurrence.
A starting point would be a blood test to check for changes
in the levels of cardiac enzymes. This should be carried out
as soon as possible after a cardiac episode. The levels of cardiac enzymes give stronger results at this point, making diagnosis easier.
When the levels
of Troponin are raised, this indicates trauma to the heart
muscle. This is because Troponin is only present in the blood
after damage to smooth muscle tissue (the heart).
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 Further
Tests to Show the Occurrence of Miocardial Infarction
Further blood tests could be taken to check levels of fasting blood
sugar and fasting lipids. Microvascular damage can be caused by
diabetes, and the patient may have undiagnosed type II diabetes.
This would be indicated by raised fasting blood sugar levels. An
HbA1C blood test will show if blood sugars have been raised over
a period of 8 to 12 weeks, the life span of red blood cells. It
measures the levels of glycosylated haemoglobin, where glucose has
become attached to the red blood cells. The person's cholesterol
levels may be also raised, resulting in artherosclerotic cardiovascular
disease. This would be indicated by a raised fasting lipids level.
The person's blood pressure would be monitored to ascertain whether
they have a history of hypertension. This should be carried out
at least 3 times to establish a trend. A raised blood pressure increases
the risk of a cardiovascular accident (CVA), coronary events, and
heart and renal failure.
A chest X-ray would be used to check for the presence of cardiomegaly,
or enlarged heart muscle. Hypertrophy, or enlargement of the muscle
walls, results in the heart becoming enlarged and decompensating
(failing).
An ECG will show changes to the heart, and show which parts of
the heart have been damaged. It will also show evidence of an old
MI.
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