HIGH EARLY PEAK CREATINE-KINASE AFTER THROMBOLYSIS IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE ANTERIOR INFARCTION PREDICTS POOR LEFT-VENTRICULAR FUNCTION

Successful thrombolysis alters the pattern of creatine kinase (CK) rel ease to the plasma after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Among the important differences there are the early peak of the CK activity curv e and the higher peak value for a given infarct size. To determine whe ther the magnitude of peak CK following thrombolysis still reflects th e extent of myocardial damage, we correlated the peak CK value with le ft ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in 114 patients with first ant erior AMI who had early peak CK(less than or equal to 12 h) after thro mbolysis. There was a significant (p < 0.001) linear relation between the peak CK value and LVEF both at admission and 2 months later. High (greater than or equal to 1,500 IU/l) as compared with low early peak CK was associated with significantly lower LVEF (p < 0.001) and a high er incidence of poor LVEF (p < 0.05).