[Assessment of the myocardial infarct size and kinetic study of the necrosis process by serial determinations of creatine kinase].

Assessment of the size of a myocardial infarct is important from a prognostic point of view, given the opportunities for surgical and pharmacological limitation of the process of necrosis. Serial doses of creatine kinase and its isoenzyme MB given every 4 hours for the first 48 hours of the infarct have allowed us to estimate the size of the infarct and to study the kinetics of enzyme liberation during necrosis. Unknown factors limit the sensitivity of this means of assessing the size of an infarct. The kinetic study showed that the enzyme is liberated by differing mechanisms.