Patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain are often admitted to "rule out" myocardial infarction (MI). Many of the patients are subsequently found to have noncardiac causes of chest pain.
In the setting of acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), warfarin is indicated for atrial fibrillation, a large dyskinetic or aneurysmal area of the left ventricle, or mural thrombus.
Aspirin can reduce the risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction, but not mortality, in people without coronary vascular disease, at the expense of increased risk of bleeding. It should not be routinely recommended.
Zinc deficiency is defined as a serum zinc level < 60 mg/dL. Unfortunately, there is some question about the reliability of zinc levels to accurately reflect zinc status, since some persons with prototypic symptoms of zinc deficiency (loss of appetite, diarrhea, hair loss, delayed wound healing, and smell and taste disturbances) have normal zinc levels.
