Acute Coronary Syndrome And Myocardial Infarction Case Study

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Roger, Go, Lloyd-Jones, et al. states “Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for men and women of all racial and ethnic groups.” (As cited in Hinkle & Cheever 2014, p. 729). There are different types cardiovascular diseases and they have a lot in common in terms of characteristics. This paper will focus on discussing acute coronary syndrome and myocardial infarction. To distinguish the two from each other, it is important to know the similarities and differences in etiology, clinical manifestations, medical management, collaborative care and nursing management for these two diseases.
Acute coronary syndrome pertains to a sudden changes in the heart’s blood supply. It can range from the development of …show more content…

Myocardial infarction and acute coronary syndrome require the same medications such as: “aspirin, nitroglycerin, morphine, beta blockers, and thrombolytics” (Smeltzer, pp. 744, 2010) Oxygen administration and a 12-lead electrocardiogram is also required upon arrival to the hospital. A PCIS is a procedure for “opening the occluded artery and providing perfusion to the area of the heart that has been deprived of oxygen” and should be done in less than one hour of patient arrival (Smeltzer, pp. 745, 2010). When a PCI is contraindicated or unavailable at a certain facility, thrombolytics are admistered to “dissolve the thrombus in a coronary artery” in order for reperfusion to the deoxygenated area of the heart to occur (Smeltzer, pp. 745, 2010). After the initial medical treatment for acute coronary syndrome and a myocardial infarction, “continuous cardiac monitoring” is required to ensure that another episode is not going to occur (Smeltzer, 745, 2010). Monitoring is preferably done on an intensive care unit because of the severity of the complications that could occur. Medications such as “aspirin, beta-blockers, and an ACE inhibitor” is included in the ongoing treatment (Smeltzer, pp. 745, 2010). Cardiac rehabilitation is initiated after the patient with acute coronary

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