Cardiac marker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ICD-10 | R74.0 |
|---|---|
| ICD-9 | 790.4 |
Medical tests that are often referred to as cardiac markers include:
- cardiac troponin (the most sensitive and specific test for myocardial damage)
- creatine kinase (CK, also known as phosphocreatine kinase or creatine phosphokinase)
- Aspartate transaminase (AST, also called Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase (GOT/SGOT) or aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT))
- lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)
- Myoglobin (Mb) has low specificify for myocardial infarction and is used less than the other markers.
Cardiac markers are substances released from heart muscle when it is damaged as a result of myocardial infarction. Depending on the marker, it can take between 2 to 24 hours for the level to increase in the blood. Additionally, determining the levels of cardiac markers in the laboratory - like many other lab measurements - takes substantial time. Cardiac markers are therefore not useful in diagnosing a myocardial infarction in the acute phase. The clinical presentation and results from an ECG are more appropriate in the acute situation.
[edit] See also
- Myocardial markers in myocardial infarction
[edit] Further reading
- Ross G, Bever F, Uddin Z, Devireddy L, Gardin J (2004). "Common scenarios to clarify the interpretation of cardiac markers.". J Am Osteopath Assoc 104 (4): 165-76. PMID 15127984.Full text
