Major subgroups at presentation Electrocardiography Echocardiography Angiography Elderly patients Women Diabetics Cardiogenic shock

Electrocardiography The electrocardiogram (ECG) remains a crucial tool in the timely identification of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and in the early selection of patients who will benefit from reperfusion therapies. A detailed analysis of patterns of STsegment elevation may influence decisions regarding the use of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), which are, according to the Recommendation Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology, ‘the preferred therapeutic option when it can be performed within 90 minutes after the first medical contact’.1