Long-term therapy
Accompanying long-term anticoagulant therapy should be carried out to counteract platelet aggregation. Suitable medications are acetylsalicylic acid (e.g. Aspirin ®) and clopidogrel (e.g.
Plavix ®), which belong to the group of antiplatelet aggregation inhibitors, i.e. they are intended to prevent platelets from clumping together and forming a clot. These therapeutic measures reduce the mortality of patients in the first year after myocardial infarction by 15% and the risk of a new heart attack by 30%. If there are echocardiographically (cardiac echo/admission ultrasound) confirmed blood clots (thrombi) in the left ventricle, drug therapy is indicated, which act as an antagonist to the coagulation-promoting substances in the blood plasma. For this purpose, coumarins (group of anticoagulants (blood clotting inhibitors), Marcumar ®) are used for at least three months. The risk of the thrombi being released from the ventricle and infiltrated into the cerebral arteries with subsequent stroke is reduced by taking coumarins.
Duration of the therapy
There are many different ways to treat a heart attack. Depending on the type, size and complications of the heart attack, different therapies are combined.The acute therapy, which usually takes place in the ambulance, consists of oxygen administration, vasodilator drugs and painkillers. Afterwards, the cause of the heart attack should be eliminated as quickly as possible in a hospital.
The cause is usually a blocked coronary artery. A bypass operation or the insertion of a stent (a wire mesh that keeps the vessel open) restores the previously disrupted blood flow. These operations have become routine treatments and usually last only 30 minutes (stent surgery) to 8 hours (bypass surgery).
Depending on the long-term complications that occur, this is followed by years or even a lifetime of drug treatment. In the case of cardiac arrhythmias, blood thinners and drugs that maintain the correct rhythm should usually be taken for life. Alternatively, a pacemaker can also be used. This gives the heart a fixed heart rate through electrical impulses. If a cardiac insufficiency should occur, it must also be treated with medication for life.
