SummaryBuckground: After successful coronary interventions, minor elevations of creatine kinase MB (CK-MB) identitied a population with a worse long-temi prognosis than that in patients without enzyme elevations. In that setting, cardiac troponin-I (cTn-I), a highly specific marker for myocardial injury, was considered for a small study; the results did not support the view that significant myocardial damage occurred during successful percutaneous transluminal coronary ang ioplasty (PTC A).Hypothesis: The present study was designed to assess the rate of elevated values ofcTn-I after successful PTCA and to determine its prognostic value.Merhods: CTn-I and CK-MB were measured in 44 patients before and daily for 3 days after PTCA. Two groups of patients were considered according to the presence or absence of elevated levels of cTn-I. The rate of free-event survival was estimated for the two groups using the Kaplan-Meier method and was compared with the log rank test.Rmdts: Globally, 36% of patients had an increase in cTn-I (normal values 0.35 ng/ml) and 9% had an increase in CK-MB. p = 0.002. The mean time to maximal enzyme level was 1.8 days for cTn-I and 2.2 days for CK-MB. Over a follow-up Conclusion: These results suggest that cTn-I is more sensitive than CK-MB in identifying minor myocardial damage after PTCA, but these elevated concentrations of cTn-I in the short-term aftermath of angioplasty do not seem to be a marker of worse long-term prognosis.

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