Isoenzymes of Creatine Phosphokinase and Diagnosis of Myocardial Infarction

Excerpt

Serum creatine phosphokinase isoenzymes have become a focus of intensive investigation, abetted by the recent development of sensitive techniques. The isoenzymes are likely to become particularly useful in the assessment of acute myocardial infarction (1) for reasons perhaps best appreciated by considering both the virtues and the limitations of total serum creatine phosphokinase as a diagnostic criterion.

Elevation of creatine phosphokinase was recognized to be a manifestation of acute myocardial infarction by Dreyfus and co-workers in 1960 (2). Subsequently, its specificity was disputed because assay methods varied among institutions and because available procedures were relatively insensitive or subject to influence