The disclosure forms of all experts involved in the development of this Expert Consensus Document are available on the ESC website www.escardio.org/guidelines ESC Guidelines
Criteria for acute myocardial infarction
The term acute myocardial infarction (MI) should be used when there is evidence of myocardial necrosis in a clinical setting consistent with acute myocardial
ischemia. Under these conditions any one of the following criteria meets the diagnosis for MI:
● Detection of a rise and/or fall of cardiac biomarker values [preferably cardiac troponin (cTn)] with at least one value above the 99th percentile upper reference
limit (URL) and with at least one of the following:
y Symptoms of ischemia.
y New or presumed new significant ST-segment–T wave (ST–T) changes or new left bundle branch block (LBBB).
y Development of pathological Q waves in the ECG.
y Imaging evidence of new loss of viable myocardium or new regional wall motion abnormality.
y Identification of an intracoronary thrombus by angiography or autopsy.
● Cardiac death with symptoms suggestive of myocardial ischemia and presumed new ischemic ECG changes or new LBBB, but death occurred before cardiac
biomarkers were obtained, or before cardiac biomarker values would be increased.
● Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) related MI is arbitrarily defined by elevation of cTn values (5 99th percentile URL) in patients with normal baseline
values (99th percentile URL) or a rise of cTn values 20% if the baseline values are elevated and are stable or falling. In addition, either (i) symptoms
suggestive of myocardial ischemia or (ii) new ischemic ECG changes or (iii) angiographic findings consistent with a procedural complication or (iv) imaging
demonstration of new loss of viable myocardium or new regional wall motion abnormality are required.
● Stent thrombosis associated with MI when detected by coronary angiography or autopsy in the setting of myocardial ischemia and with a rise and/or fall of cardiac
biomarker values with at least one value above the 99th percentile URL.
● Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) related MI is arbitrarily defined by elevation of cardiac biomarker values (10 99th percentile URL) in patients with
normal baseline cTn values (99th percentile URL). In addition, either (i) new pathological Q waves or new LBBB, or (ii) angiographic documented new graft or
new native coronary artery occlusion, or (iii) imaging evidence of new loss of viable myocardium or new regional wall motion abnormality.
Criteria for prior myocardial infarction
Any one of the following criteria meets the diagnosis for prior MI:
● Pathological Q waves with or without symptoms in the absence of non-ischemic causes.
● Imaging evidence of a region of loss of viable myocardium that is thinned and fails to contract, in the absence of a non-ischemic cause.
● Pathological findings of a prior MI
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