title: An update on cardiac enzymes.
abstract: Determination of plasma total and MB CK concentration provides accuracy superior to any other currently available method for the diagnosis of acute MI. Nevertheless, elevation of MB CK is occasionally detected in the absence of acute MI for several reasons, some of them assay-dependent; consequently, the clinician should suspect a noncardiac source of MB CK or a spurious result if assay determinations are discordant with the clinical setting. In addition to providing precise diagnosis of acute MI, quantitative MB CK assays can also be used to obtain an accurate estimate of infarct size. In recent years, accuracy in the diagnosis of acute MI has assumed even greater importance, since the choice and timing of a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic options following coronary care unit admission hinge on whether infarction has occurred. Furthermore, the advent of thrombolytic therapy of acute MI has emphasized the need for more sensitive biochemical markers of necrosis in the first hours; the newly discovered subforms of MM and MB CK show promise as a means of proving an early diagnosis of acute MI and also as a means of assessing reperfusion noninvasively.
mesh_terms: D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007527:Isoenzymes; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology*; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D003402:Creatine Kinase