# Heart attack (myocardial infarction)

Condition · id `cardio:myocardial-infarction` · Cardiovascular Atlas · release `5dcd9b263fe17744` (public)

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Also called: Myocardial infarction; MI

Browse, organ or system: Heart  
Browse, condition area: Coronary and vascular disease; Acute care and long-term living  

## In plain language

A heart attack happens when a blockage suddenly cuts off the blood supply to part of the heart muscle, so that part is starved of oxygen. It is a medical emergency: without fast restoration of blood flow, the affected heart muscle starts to die. Quick treatment limits the damage, and many people live active lives after a heart attack.

## Technical summary

A US government patient page uses the terms heart attack and myocardial infarction together and, citing figures from the US national public-health agency, puts the number of US heart attacks above 800,000 a year. It distinguishes a heart attack (a blocked blood supply) from cardiac arrest (the heart stops without warning) and notes that a heart attack can trigger cardiac arrest. This page links the acute-care and secondary-prevention records and the heart-attack component of a blood pressure trial.

## Connected pages

- SPRINT outcome component: Myocardial infarction (SPRINT component) (`cardio:outcome-sprint-myocardial-infarction`)
- Files under this front: Emergency and acute care (`cardio:front-emergency-and-acute-care`)
- Related to: Aspirin (`core:aspirin`)
- Evaluated for this: Cardiac troponin blood test (`cardio:cardiac-troponin`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-troponin-heart-attack-diagnosis` and its context]
- Related to: Heart attack warning signs and when to call for help (`cardio:heart-attack-warning-signs`)
- Risk raised by: Coronary artery disease (`cardio:coronary-artery-disease`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-cad-can-cause-heart-attack` and its context]
- Related to: Cardiac rehabilitation (`cardio:cardiac-rehabilitation`)
- Evaluated for this: Cardiovascular polypill (`cardio:polypill`) [a claim, not a settled fact; see claim `cardio:claim-secure-polypill-primary` and its context]
- Related to: Emergency stenting for ST-elevation heart attack (primary PCI) (`cardio:primary-pci-for-stemi`)
- Related to: After a heart attack: from the emergency to recovery (`cardio:reading-path-after-heart-attack`)
- Investigated in: IMPROVE-IT (ezetimibe added to simvastatin after acute coronary syndrome) (`cardio:improve-it`)
- Investigated in: SECURE (`cardio:secure-trial`)

## Provenance

Content hash: 331e6d1ce2d9f7802f5ec7d82078e5187a023468954f05974adf64ce6dd4624f
Last substantive edit: 2026-10-15
Evidence last checked: 2026-10-14