Myocardial infarction (MI)

commonly known as a "heart attack", a myocardial infarction refers to changes that occur in the heart muscle due to an interruption in its blood supply. An MI is often the result of a clot that lodges in a coronary artery, resulting in deprivation of oxygen to a portion of the heart muscle (ischemia), and ultimately the death (necrosis) of a portion of the heart muscle, if the oxygen supply is not restored within a few minutes.