[Myoglobin concentration in blood: a criterion in the evaluation of muscular tissue injury in patients with prolonged crush syndrome].

Blood serum levels of myoglobin, creatinine, urea, beta 2-microglobulin were measured in 37 patients with the prolonged crush syndrome (PCS) injured during the Yerevan earthquake. A drastic increase of myoglobin level in the blood was observed in all the patients by the moment of hospitalization, this level being the higher, the more severe the injury. If PCS complications developed, such as sepsis or acute renal failure, myoglobin level increased by several tens of times. Effective treatment normalized myoglobin level before discharge from hospital.