Pattern of enzyme activity following acute myocardial infarction with special reference to gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase.

The present study on 55 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) draws attention to the relationship between different enzyme maxima in AMI, with special reference to serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (S-GT). In more than 60% of the patients the S-GT was increased during the hospital stay. The S-GT rise nearly always began during the first days, reached a maximum within 5--8 days and normalized with 2--3 weeks. We failed to find the late increase in S-GT reported by others. The rise of S-GT is particularly common in patients with inferior infarction, with or without right ventricular involvement. We conclude that S-GT activity is not a useful early or late indicator of AMI but a very sensitive test for hepatic dysfunction in patients with AMI.