Favorable effects of hyaluronidase on electrocardiographic evidence of necrosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

To evaluate hyaluronidase's effect in reducing post-infarction myocardial necrosis, we randomized 91 patients with anterior infarction to control (45) or to hyaluronidase-treatment (46) groups. A 35-lead precordial electrocardiogram was recorded on admission and seven days later. Hyaluronidase was administered intravenously after the first electrocardiogram and every six hours for 48 hours. QRS-complex changes were analyzed to assess the drug's effect. Precordial sites with ST-segment elevation (larger than or equal to 0.15 mV) on the initial electrocardiogram that retained an R wave were considered vulnerable for the development of electrocardiographic signs of necrosis. The sum of R-wave voltages of vulnerable sites fell more in the control group than in the hyaluronidase group (70.9 +/- 3.6 per cent [+/- 1 S.E.M.] vs 54.2 +/- 5.0 per cent P less than 0.01). Q waves appeared in 59.3 +/- 4.9 per cent of the vulnerable sites in control versus 46.4 +/- 4.9 per cent in hyaluronidase-treated patients (P less than 0.05). Thus, hyaluronidase reduced the frequency of electrocardiographic signs of myocardial necrosis.