Evaluation of serum and urinary myoglobin assay for the early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction

Myoglobin is one of the new markers for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction [AMI]. Serum and urine myoglobin as well as cardiac enzymes were serially measured in a group of 22 patients with AMI to establish the time-frame sensitivity of individual markers. Serum myoglobin was elevated in 21 patients on admission. Sensitivity of 100% for serum myoglobin was achieved at 6 hours after admission predating that for creatine kinase enzyme [CK] and its cardiac isoenzyme [CK-MB] by six hours. However, urine myoglobin assay did not seem promising as a diagnostic tool for AMI since it showed a maximum sensitivity of 50% at 24 hours after admission. It can be concluded that serum myoglobin assay is an effective additional tool to satisfy the recent enthusiasm for an early sensitive diagnostic marker for AMI aiming for early intervention with thrombolytic therapy