The ECG diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction is revealed by an elevation of the ST segment in the patient who has acute chest pain. Figure 6 shows the ECG of a patient with infarction of the anterior wall of the heart. The typical diagnostic ECG finding is ST-segment elevation in the leads taken over the chest, precordial leads V1 through V6 (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction). Figure 7 shows involvement of the inferior myocardium during inferior myocardial infarction.
Based on this simple ECG finding, physicians, nurses, or paramedics can commence two chewable aspirin, a beta-blocking drug, and intravenous thrombolytic therapy that can save the life of greater than 33% of heart attack victims if this therapy is given within the first hour of onset of symptoms. If treatment is delayed for more than 4 h approximately 15% of lives would be saved, and after 6 h benefit is negligible. Most important, based on the results of two ECGs done 15–30 minutes apart diagnosis is usually sufficiently conclusive to allow such patients to proceed to a catheter laboratory to have coronary angio-gram to visualize the blockage of the coronary artery. This is followed by balloon angioplasty and stent implantation that could be life-saving.

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