Ventricular function definition

Acute myocardial infarction can be limited by streptokinase which dissolves fresh clots and opens the artery, but muscle death and necrosis causes a mechanical defect. Subsequent infarcts cause further muscle death and ultimately lead to defective ventricular function and cardiac failure. There is the need for simple alarm systems to detect acute myocardial infarction and less traumatic invasive procedures to dissolve the clot and dilate the artery immediately. Coronary arteries ramify and branch in 3-dimensional space and the present generation of balloon catheters for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty carries a small but definite risk. New, non-traumatic guidewires, low profile dilatation systems and more powerful dilatation balloons which will not rupture the artery are needed. 

On the basis of two large randomized trials aimed at suppressing premature ventricular complexes after MI, so-called warning arrhythmias, it was discovered that many common antiarrhythmic medications actually increase the risk of mortality [20, 21]. Amiodarone also has been shown to have no definitive effect on mortality in patients after an MI, including in the recent SCD-HeFT trial [22-24]. In fact, of all antiarrhythmic medications, only beta blockers have been clearly shown to prevent SCD after MI [25], particularly among those with depressed LV function [11]. 

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