Implications of the universal definition of myocardial infarction

The original WHO definition of myocardial infarction (MI) was revised in 2000 and further refined in 2007. Central to the new universal definition of MI was the use of the highly sensitive and specific biomarker troponin. In the investigation reviewed in this commentary, Hochholzer et al. showed that acute and long-term postinfarction prognosis and mortality were adversely affected when patients met the newly revised criteria for acute MI.