Acute Myocardial Infarction Without Chest Pain

. . . on a number of levels, not experiencing chest pain in association with acute MI is a formidable risk factor that heralds a significantly greater chance of death for both men and women and at every age. Acute myocardial infarction (MI) manifests in various forms and types, each having different clinical implications for a patient’s prognosis, medical management, and nursing care. All critical care nurses are familiar with the need to distinguish between acute versus prior/old MIs, anterior versus inferior wall MIs, ST-segment elevation MIs (STEMI) versus nonSTEMIs, transmural versus nontransmural MIs, and the like. A recent study published in JAMA suggests that it may be time to add yet another categorical fork in the MI lexicon to distinguish patients who present with or without chest pain.