[Serum myoglobin and myocardial infarction (author's transl)]

The serum myoglobin level was determined in 45 healthy persons and 64 patients of whom 43 had a recent proven myocardial infarct. The normal myoglobin value was found to ae 43.7 +/- 16.0 ng/ml. All the patients with myocardial infarct who had been transferred to our Coronary Care Unit showed raised serum myoglobin levels already 4 hours after symptoms commenced, the maximum being reached after 10 hours. 20 hours after myocardial infarction normal values were once again registered. Pathological serum myoglobin levels were also found without infarction after skeletal muscle damage in the course of resuscitation measures, or after operations or in renal failure. The value of the serum myoglobin concentration in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction lies in the early elevation of this parameter, but it is unspecific and the method is relatively laborious.