Why cardiac enzymes test

If you're having chest pain , shortness of breath , nausea, sweating, and abnormal electrocardiography ECG results, for instance, knowing your enzyme levels can help determine whether you are in the midst of a heart attack.

Enzyme testing is also done to check for injury to the heart after some forms of cardiac surgery. During the recovery period following a heart attack or injury, such tests can also help determine whether a cardiac procedure or a medicine being used to dissolve a blockage thrombolytic medicine has successfully restored blood flow through a blocked coronary artery. Because cardiac enzymes leak slowly into the bloodstream, high enzyme levels may not appear for six or more hours after the onset of a heart attack.

For this reason, if someone is experiencing chest pain but their heart enzymes are normal, a heart attack cannot be completely ruled out. In such cases, repeated cardiac enzyme tests are normally conducted to confirm the diagnosis of a heart attack.

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Heart Condition Centers. Cardiac Enzyme Test Email. How Does It Work? How Is It Performed? Is It Safe? Do you think I have had a heart attack? Do the cardiac enzyme test results show that I have had a heart attack? A value that isn't in the normal range may still be normal for you.

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Updated visitor guidelines. You could need this type of test if your doctor suspects that you might be having, or have had, a heart attack or other kinds of damage to your heart muscle.

This test might be done if there is an abnormality on a heart tracing electrocardiogram or ECG that suggests heart attack or heart muscle damage. You should discuss the results with your doctor to understand what they mean specifically for you. A high level of cardiac enzymes might indicate a heart attack, but your signs and symptoms, and what your ECG shows, are also necessary for a firm diagnosis.

Visit our 'Guide to blood testing' to learn more about blood tests in general with information such as:. Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content. This is a group of tests and health facts that are used to assess your chance of having a heart attack. Understand what a heart attack is, its causes, the warning signs to look out for and what to do if you or someone you know is having one. Read more now.

Read more on Heart Foundation website. A heart attack myocardial infarction means the blood supply to part of the heart muscle has become blocked.

Early treatment can reduce muscle damage. Read more on myDr website. Read more on Better Health Channel website. The risk calculator allows you to use one of three methods of assessing risk of cardiovascular disease and whether the patient should be on extra medication. The best known is the Framingham calculator which has been used for many years. The Reynolds calculator has been designed.