Copyright 2008
Definition
Myocardial ischemia is a pathological circulatory disorder caused by an imbalance between myocardial oxygen demand and supply secondary to coronary insufficiency resulting from coronary stenosis, obstruction thrombus formation, or spasm resulting in chest pain.
Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is the term used to describe any one of the 3 following entities: unstable angina, non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (non Q wave MI) and ST elevation myocardial infarction (Q wave MI). Myocardial ischemia is the pathophysiological substrate for all the entities above, encompassed by the term acute coronary syndrome.