Cardiac Enzymes

  During a checkup, my physician ordered blood work done and was very
  concerned about the level of one of my cardiac enzymes.  Sorry, I don't
  remember which one it was.  She thought that this high level was an
  indicator of possible heart damage from a heart attack.  She conferred
  with another physician who said that the level was high but was still
  within the acceptable high/low range.  Is this anything that I should
  be concerned about?  Should I have the blood test repeated at a later
  date?  Thanks very much.

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

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Dear Carolyn,
Thank you for your question. Cardiac enzymes are intracellular proteins that are released into the blood stream when there is damage to the heart muscle.  The main enzymes checked are CK-MB, and troponin.  They are used to help diagnosis heart attacks and determine amount of damage to the heart.  An isolated elevation of CK in the absence of any symptoms probably does not represent heart damage.
I hope you find this information useful.  Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies.  Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.  The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.