title: [The clinical and prognostic significance of the infarct size in patients discharged after a myocardial infarct].
abstract: The authors report their experience in the determination of the infarct size (IS) by means of enzymatic analysis in a series of 281 consecutive patients (230 males, 51 females) admitted to the CCU because of myocardial infarction (MI), who did not benefit from thrombolytic therapy in the acute phase. To obtain the enzymatic IS, the serum activity of creatine kinase (CK) is determined every 4 hours for 48 hours and after 72 hours; Sobel's formula is used and results are expressed as CK-g-Eq of tissue. The enzymatic IS was compared to the degree of left ventricular dysfunction (assessed by echocardiography); to the electrocardiographic extension of necrosis; to the severity of ventricular arrhythmias (expressed as Lown's class) on 24-hour Holter monitoring; to cardiac mortality at 2 years. Mean estimated enzymatic IS of the population under study was 129 +/- 101 g-Eq. Patients with extensive MI (216 +/- 144 g-Eq) had significantly (p less than 0.05) higher IS compared to patients with inferior (131 +/- 93 g-Eq), anterior (105 +/- 65 g-Eq) and non-Q wave MI (73 +/- 54 g-Eq); also, a statistically significant difference (p less than 0.05) was found between inferior and non-Q wave MI. Patients with severely compromised left ventricular function (defined as an echocardiographic ejection fraction less than 30%), had significantly higher values of IS compared to patients with preserved left ventricular function (171 +/- 130 vs 120 +/- 93 g-Eq; p less than 0.05). A poor correlation was found between enzymatic IS and ventricular arrhythmias documented at pre-discharge 24-hour Holter monitoring.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Divisione Clinicizzata di Cardiologia, Ospedale San Bortolo, Vicenza.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Finocchi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ometto
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: La Vecchia
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vezù
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Mosele
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vincenzi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D009336:Necrosis; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies
vernacular_title: Significato clinico e prognostico dell'infarct size nei pazienti dimessi dopo infarto miocardico.