Enzyme levels

[Susan__0__0]

  I realize there are many factors that contribute to a diagnosis of MI; however, my father was recently admitted to the hospital with a suspected MI and
  everyone kept referring to his enzyme levels being "normal" or negative.  This morning, however, the nurse stated that his enzymes have gone down and that's good.
   I understand the physiology of the enzymes and why they are released into the blood stream, but I can't find any info on "normal" levels or limits.  Could you
  post these ranges?  Thank you so much.
  Susan
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Dear Susan,
Thank you for your question.  Enzymes are intracellular proteins the carry out the work of the cell.  When a cell is damaged it "leaks" these enzymes into the blood stream.  There are several different markers for heart damage.  The newest of these are Troponin I and Troponin T.    "Traditional" markers are CK, CK-MB and LDH.  If  these are elevated then cardiac damage has occurred.  The size of the area of damage can be determined from the amount of enzyme in the blood.
The normal levels for these markers will vary slightly from lab to lab.  For the Cleveland Clinic our normal values are as follows:  Troponin T <0.1 ng/ml , CK  < 220 u/L , CK-MB  < 8 ,  LDH  <220 u/L  .
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.