Myocardial Infarction as a Clinical End Point in Research: What Are We Really Talking About?

Reflecting the greater understanding of the many diverse causes of myocardial injury, international consensus definition of myocardial injury now includes nonischemic causes of myocardial injury and several etiologically distinct subtypes of myocardial infarction (MI). It is time that all ongoing prospective cohorts and clinical trials systematically differentiate and report on all the etiologically distinct types of myocardial injury. Such reporting will undoubtedly advance the fundamental understanding of the epidemiology of myocardial injury events, including differing risk factor associations, allowing better prediction, prevention, and pharmacotherapies for all identified subtypes of myocardial injury events-including all subtypes of MI.