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Heart attack and acute coronary syndrome - Symptoms

Description

An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of heart attack.

Alternative Names

Acute coronary syndrome; Myocardial infarction

Symptoms:

Heart Attack Symptoms

Heart attack symptoms can vary. They may come on suddenly and severely or may progress slowly, beginning with mild pain. Symptoms can also vary between men and women. Women are less likely than men to experience classic chest pain, but more likely to to experience shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting, or jaw and back pain.

Common signs and symptom of heart attack include:

Chest pain. Chest pain or discomfort (angina) is the main sign of a heart attack. It can feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain in the center of the chest. Patients with coronary artery disease who have stable angina often experience chest pain that lasts for a few minutes and then goes away. With heart attack, the pain usually lasts for more than a few minutes and the feeling may go away but then come back.
Discomfort in the upper body. People who are experiencing a heart attack may feel discomfort in the arms, neck, back, jaw, or stomach.
Shortness of breath can occur with or without chest pain.
Nausea and vomiting
Breaking out in cold sweat
Lightheadedness or fainting

Symptoms That Are Less Likely to Indicate Heart Attack

The following symptoms are less likely to be due to heart attack:

Sharp pain brought on by breathing in or when coughing
Pain that is mainly or only in the middle or lower abdomen
Pain that can be pinpointed with the top of one finger
Pain that can be reproduced by moving or pressing on the chest wall or arms
Pain that is constant and lasts for hours (although no one should wait hours if they suspect they are having a heart attack)
Pain that is very brief and lasts for a few seconds
Pain that spreads to the legs

However, the presence of these symptoms does not always rule out a serious heart event.

Silent Ischemia

Some people with severe coronary artery disease do not have angina pain. This condition is known as silent ischemia, which some doctors attribute to the brain abnormally processing of heart pain. This is a dangerous condition because patients have no warning signs of heart disease. Some studies suggest that people with silent ischemia experience higher complication and mortality rates than those with angina pain.

What to Do When Symptoms Occur

Individuals who experience symptoms of a heart attack should take the following actions:

For angina patients, take one nitroglycerin dose either as an under-the-tongue tablet or in spray form at the onset of symptoms. Take another dose every 5 minutes up to three doses or when the pain is relieved, whichever comes first.
Call 911 or the local emergency number. This should be the first action taken if angina patients continue to experience chest pain after taking the full three doses of nitroglycerin. However, only 20% of heart attacks occur in patients with previously diagnosed angina. Therefore, anyone who develops heart attack symptoms should contact emergency services.
The patient should chew an aspirin (250 - 500 mg) and be sure to tell emergency health providers so an additional dose is not given.
Patients with chest pain should go immediately to the nearest emergency room, preferably traveling by ambulance. They should not drive themselves.

Click the icon to see an image about heart attack symptoms.

Click the icon to see another image about heart attack symptoms.

Resources

www.nhlbi.nih.gov -- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
www.acc.org -- American College of Cardiology
www.americanheart.org -- American Heart Association

References

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Antman EM. ST-Elevation myocardial infarcation: management. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, eds. Libby: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Saunders; 2007:chap 51.

Antman EM, Bennett JS, Daugherty A, Furberg C, Roberts H, Taubert KA. Use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs: an update for clinicians: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2007 Mar 27;115(12):1634-42. Epub 2007 Feb 26.

Antman EM, Hand M, Armstrong PW, Bates ER, Green LA, Halasyamani LK, Hochman JS, et al. 2007 Focused Update of the ACC/AHA 2004 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines: developed in collaboration With the Canadian Cardiovascular Society endorsed by the American Academy of Family Physicians: 2007 Writing Group to Review New Evidence and Update the ACC/AHA 2004 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, Writing on Behalf of the 2004 Writing Committee. Circulation. 2008 Jan 15;117(2):296-329. Epub 2007 Dec 10.

Cannon CP and Braunwald E. Unstable angina and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, eds. Libby: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Saunders; 2007:chap 53.

Eisenstein EL, Anstrom KJ, Kong DF, Shaw LK, Tuttle RH, Mark DB, et al. Clopidogrel use and long-term clinical outcomes after drug-eluting stent implantation. JAMA. 2007 Jan 10;297(2):159-68. Epub 2006 Dec 5.

Goodman SG, Menon V, Cannon CP, Steg G, Ohman EM, Harrington RA; et al. Acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: American College of Chest Physicians Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines (8th Edition). Chest. 2008 Jun;133(6 Suppl):708S-775S.

Hirsch A, Windhausen F, Tijssen JG, Verheugt FW, Cornel JH, de Winter RJ; Invasive versus Conservative Treatment in Unstable coronary Syndromes (ICTUS) investigators. Long-term outcome after an early invasive versus selective invasive treatment strategy in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome and elevated cardiac troponin T (the ICTUS trial): a follow-up study. Lancet. 2007 Mar 10;369(9564):827-35.

Hulten E, Jackson JL, Douglas K, George S, Villines TC. The effect of early, intensive statin therapy on acute coronary syndrome: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern Med. 2006 Sep 25;166(17):1814-21.

Hochman JS, Lamas GA, Buller CE, Dzavik V, Reynolds HR, Abramsky SJ, et al. Coronary intervention for persistent occlusion after myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med. 2006 Dec 7;355(23):2395-407. Epub 2006 Nov 14.

Hochman JS, Sleeper LA, Webb JG, Dzavik V, Buller CE, Aylward P, et al. Early revascularization and long-term survival in cardiogenic shock complicating acute myocardial infarction. JAMA. 2006 Jun 7;295(21):2511-5.

King SB 3rd, Smith SC Jr, Hirshfeld JW Jr, Jacobs AK, Morrison DA, Williams DO;et al. 2007 Focused Update of the ACC/AHA/SCAI 2005 Guideline Update for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines: 2007 Writing Group to Review New Evidence and Update the ACC/AHA/SCAI 2005 Guideline Update for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, Writing on Behalf of the 2005 Writing Committee. Circulation. 2008 Jan 15;117(2):261-95. Epub 2007 Dec 13.

Krumholz HM, Anderson JL, Bachelder BL, Fesmire FM, Fihn SD, Foody JM, et al. ACC/AHA 2008 performance measures for adults with ST-elevation and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Performance Measures (Writing Committee to develop performance measures for ST-elevation and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction): developed in collaboration with the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Emergency Physicians: endorsed by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and Society of Hospital Medicine. Circulation. 2008 Dec 9;118(24):2596-648. Epub 2008 Nov 10.

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Spaulding C, Henry P, Teiger E, Beatt K, Bramucci E, Carrie D, et al. Sirolimus-eluting versus uncoated stents in acute myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med. 2006 Sep 14;355(11):1093-104.

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Reviewed last on: 5/18/2009
Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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