ASSOCIATION OF SERUM LACTATE LEVELS WITH CREATINE KINASE – MB AND LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE IN PATIENTS WITH MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

Objectives: Myocardial infarction is the most common form of coronary heart disease, the commonest cause of worldwide mortality. The present biochemical markers take atleast 6 hours for elevation following an episode of myocardial infarction. There is a need for sensitive marker for early diagnosis and prognosis. Lactate, the end product of anaerobic glycolysis is found to be elevated in many critical illnesses. Thus the study was undertaken to assess the levels of serum lactate in patients with myocardial infarction and to correlate it with the frequently used enzymatic markers for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction, i.e creatine kinase – MB and lactate dehydrogenase Methods: Fifty age and sex matched controls and fty cases of myocardial infarction were included in the study. Serum creatine kinase – MB, lactate dehydrogenase and lactate were estimated in these subjects. Results:The serum lactate levels were signicantly higher among cases when compared to controls. The serum lactate levels positively correlated with serum creatine kinase – MB among cases but not with lactate dehydrogenase. Conclusions: We conclude that serum lactate is altered in patients with myocardial infarction and may be considered as a prognostic risk factor in these patients. Further studies are needed to nd the cut-off value of serum lactate for assistance in the hemodynamic management of these patients.