Renin and the complications of acute myocardial infarction.

To determine whether plasma renin activity in addition to catecholamines could be used as risk indicators, these parameters were measured in 19 patients with acute myocardial infarction. During the course of hospitalization, five patients developed ventricular fibrillation and three, cardiogenic shock. On admission, heart rate, plasma norepinephrine, epinephrine, and renin levels of these eight patients were significantly higher than those of the other patients with uncomplicated course. Peak creatine kinase MB activity was positively related to initial plasma renin activity (r = 0.62, p less than 0.01). Thus, the patients with the highest sympathetic activity following an acute myocardial infarction also had the highest plasma renin levels. They seem particularly prone to develop large infarcts and life-threatening complications.