'Cardiac' enzymes after transurethral resection of the prostate

Postoperative serial determinations of serum total creatine kinase (CK) and the CK-B subunit (by immunoinhibition), and of total lactate dehydrogenase (LD) and isoenzyme LD-1 (by immunoprecipitation), were performed in 16 and 9 patients, respectively, after uncomplicated transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). Total CK remained unchanged. An early, modest increase in serum CK-B activity, accompanied by an unusually high CK-B/total CK relation, correlated significantly with duration of operation and amount of tissue resected. A slight, early elevation of the total LD level was not accompanied by an increase in LD-1. If the possibility of small increases in CK-B and LD from the prostate is taken into consideration, routine criteria for diagnosing myocardial damage may be applied after TURP.