WHO criteria for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction

The WHO criteria for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (MI) requires the presence of at least two of three elements:

• History of ischaemic-type chest discomfort
• Evolutionary ECG changes
• Rise and fall in serum cardiac markers.

No further time should be wasted before reperfusing an ST elevation MI (STEMI), generally by thrombolysis. In the case of non-ST elevation MI (NSTEMI), the serum cardiac markers become elevated.