Myocardial infarction is best described as which of the following?

• A. Infection of heart valve
• B. Pericarditis
• C. Endocarditis
• D. Heart attack

Answer: (D)

Myocardial infarction is a heart attack: it happens when a coronary artery becomes blocked or severely narrowed, leading to lack of blood flow and death of a portion of heart muscle due to ischemia. This is an ischemic/necrotic process, not an infection or inflammatory condition of heart structures. The other terms describe different issues—infection of the heart valves or inner lining (endocarditis) and inflammation of the sac around the heart (pericarditis)—so they don’t describe the tissue death from reduced blood supply.