[Enzyme diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction]

During the past decade, determinations of enzyme concentrations in the blood in patients admitted with suspected acute myocardial infarction has been of increasing significance not only for early elucidation but also for establishing the correct diagnosis. This is partly the result of methods which can demonstrate the presence of myocardium-related isoenzymes and also because of the physiological basis for the release of enzymes and their metabolism bas been elucidated. In the present report, guidelines for clinical employment of enzyme investigations in acute myocardial infarction are presented. By means of blood sampling twice or thrice within a time interval af approximately 8-24 hours after the presumed time of infarction and determination of a limited number of enzymes in these samples, it is possible to exclude or confirm the presence of an infarct with high probability.