Does a heart attack always mean that the patient will die?
NO. After a patient suffers a heart attack, the immediate prognosis depends upon how much of the heart muscle has infarcted. The part of the heart that is involved can no longer pump blood. The remaining normal heart muscle can continue to pump blood around the body. If too much of the heart muscle has been destroyed, the patient will die. If the amount of remaining normal tissue is able to pump blood through the body, it will continue to work, but much less effectively than it had been.
