A Prospective Observational Study on the Clinical Profile Assessment of Myocardial Infarction Patients in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Background: Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) are the single largest contributor to the global burden of disease and are recognized as the leading cause of death globally. CHD has various clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic to acute conditions, namely acute coronary syndrome. Cardiovascular risk factors for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are on the rise in people of Indian origin. Myocardial Infarction (MI) also called as heart attack, infarction means the death of an area of tissue because of interrupted blood supply. Myocardial Infarction has become a growing concern among the cardiovascular diseases, hence the study is conducted in order to assess the clinical profile of patients suffering from MI.

Aim: To assess the clinical presentations, risk factors, short-term complications and management of patients with MI.

Methodology: A prospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital over six months. A total of 121 patients were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Results: Among the 121 patients included, the predominant were males (63.63%). Most of the patients fell under the age group of 51-60 (n=46). The common presenting symptoms were chest pain (42.32%), followed by breathlessness (26.04%) and sweating (15.34%). Most patients had NSTEMI (62.80%) and STEMI (37.19%). Alcohol (23.44%) was major risk factor followed by smoking (22.48%) and diabetes (14.35%). The elevated biomarkers noted were Troponin I (42.14%), Troponin T (37.19%) and CK-MB (6.61%) respectively. The majority of infarctions occurred on inferior wall (30.57%). The most prevalent complication observed was heart failure (14.8%) followed by sinus tachycardia (6.61%), and sinus bradycardia (5.78%). The majority of patients received key medications like anti-platelet agents, statins and anti-coagulants during hospital stay.

Conclusion: The risk of men developing myocardial infarction is more compared to women due to various reasons. It is more likely that the diagnosis of myocardial infarction is neglected due to certain presenting symptoms like epigastric pain, syncope, vomiting, sweating etc., hence this study was conducted with an overview of creating awareness regarding the severity of myocardial infarction along with the advantages of early diagnosis.