Synonyms
Definition
ACS Definition
Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is comprised of two related entities: acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and unstable angina. Both entities are caused by an insufficient delivery of oxygen to cardiac myocytes. In myocardial infarction, a sustained disruption in the delivery of substrate leads to cellular death and necrosis. Unstable angina is typically an intermittent or incomplete disruption in cellular substrate delivery that by definition does not cause detectable amounts of cellular death. Unstable angina differs in definition from AMI in that no measurable myocardial necrosis, and therefore no elevated cardiac markers are present.
Risk Stratification
The concept of risk stratification is critical to the evaluation and treatment of ACS. Several levels of risk stratification are commonly used to determine prognosis and to direct treatment. The rationale for risk stratification is matching individual patients with diagnostic and...
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References
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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Miller, C.D. (2012). Acute Coronary Syndrome: Risk Stratification. In: Vincent, JL., Hall, J.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Intensive Care Medicine. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00418-6_797
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00418-6_797
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