Definition of "heart attack" []

• Sudden interruption or insufficiency of the supply of blood to the heart, typically resulting from occlusion or obstruction of a coronary artery and often characterized by severe chest pain. Also called myocardial infarction. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Michelle Petri, who is involved in a trial to treat lupus patients prophylactically with Lipitor, a potent anticholesterol drug thought to lower the risk of heart attack, says that “the risk is fifty times greater of having a heart attack if you have lupus.”"
• "Patients with high blood pressure and coronary artery disease who took NSAIDs regularly had a 47 percent increase in the rate of death as well as nonfatal heart attack and stroke."
• "She knew that if it progressed it could easily block the flow of oxygen to her heart or lungs, causing a heart attack or even a life-threatening heart infection known as endocarditis."