• (heart attack) The common term for a myocardial infarction. It refers to the damage that occurs when blood flow to part of the heart is blocked or drastically restricted. The blockage usually stems from the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque.
  Harvard Dictionary of Health Terms
  Harvard Medical Publishing, 2011
• A condition which occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to a part of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle.
  U.S. FDA Glossary
  U.S. Food & Drug Administration, 2021
• Gross necrosis of the myocardium, as a result of interruption of the blood supply to the area, as in coronary thrombosis.
  NCI
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• Necrosis of the myocardium caused by an obstruction of the blood supply to the heart and often associated with chest pain, shortness of breath, palpitations, and anxiety as well as characteristic EKG findings and elevation of serum markers including creatine kinase-MB fraction and troponin.
  Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO)
  The Human Phenotype Ontology Project, 2025
• Necrosis of the myocardium, as a result of interruption of the blood supply to the area.
  NICHD Pediatric Terminology
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• A disorder characterized by gross necrosis of the myocardium; this is due to an interruption of blood supply to the area.
  Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events
  U.S. National Institutes of Health, 2021
• Myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, is the irreversible necrosis of heart muscle secondary to prolonged ischemia. This usually results from an imbalance in oxygen supply and demand, which is most often caused by plaque rupture with thrombus formation in a coronary vessel, resulting in an acute reduction of blood...
  Medscape
  WebMD, 2025
• A heart attack occurs when the flow of blood to the heart is blocked. The blockage is most often a buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances, which form a plaque in the arteries that feed the heart (coronary arteries).
  Mayo Clinic
  Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2025
• Heart attack, death of a section of the myocardium, the muscle of the heart, caused by an interruption of blood flow to the area. A heart attack results from obstruction of the coronary arteries. The most common cause is a blood clot (thrombus) that lodges in an area of a coronary artery thickened...
  Encyclopedia Britannica
  Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2025
• Myocardial infarction, death of a section of the heart muscle, caused by an interruption of blood flow to the area.
  Encyclopedia Britannica
  Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2025