Abstract
In some situations the postmortem diagnosis of myocardial infarction is made difficult by the brief course of the fatal episode or by interferences caused by autolysis. In such cases, biochemical indices may provide a useful adjunct to morphological studies. Myosin is the main component of the contractile apparatus of muscle cells, so its determination may well be useful to evaluate myocardial injury. The purpose of the present study was to establish the diagnostic efficacy of postmortem myosin heavy chain determinations using monoclonal antibodies and to compare this data with structural findings used to diagnose acute myocardial ischaemia. We studied 105 cadavers with a mean age of 61.63 ± 2.21 years. Cases were allocated to 1 of 7 diagnostic groups depending on the probable intensity of myocardial damage and cause of death. The highest serum and pericardial fluid values of myosin heavy chains were seen in subjects who showed morphological evidence of myocardial ischaemia. Mean pericardial fluid/serum ratios differed significantly between subjects with and without observable signs of heart damage.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams JE, Abendschein DR, Jaffe AS (1993) Biochemical markers of myocardial injury. Is MB creatine kinase the choice for the 1990s?. Circulation 88:750–763
Cairns JA, Missirlis E, Walker WHC (1983) Usefulness of serial determinations of myoglobin and creatine kinase in serum compared for assessment of acute myocardial infarction. Clin Chem 29:469–473
Clark-Nolan A, Clark WA, Karwoski T, Zak R (1983) Patterns of cellular injury in myocardial ischemia determined by monoclonal antimyosin. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 80:46–50
Cummins B, McGurk B, Littler WA (1981) Radioimmunoassay of human cardiac tropomyosin in acute myocardial infarction. Clin Sci 60:251–259
Cummins B, Aukland ML, Cummins P (1987) Cardiac specific troponin-I radioimmunoassay in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. Am Heart J 113: 1333–1344
Fechner G, Hauser R, Sepulchre MA, Brinkmann B (1991) Immunohistochemical investigations to demonstrate vital direct traumatic damage of skeletal muscle. Int J Legal Med 104: 215–219
Grenadier E, Keidar S, Kahana L, Alpan G, Marmur A, Palant A (1983) The roles of serum myoglobin, total CPK and CK-MB isoenzyme in the acute phase of myocardial infarction. Am Heart J 105:408–416
Hoberg E, Katus HA, Diederich KW, Kübler W (1987) Myoglobin, creatine kinase-B isoenzyme, and myosin light chain release in patients with unstable angina pectoris. Eur Heart J 8: 989–994
Isakov A, Shapira I, Burke M, Almog CH (1988) Serum myoglobin levels in patients with ischemic myocardial insult. Arch Intern Med 148: 1762–1765
Katus HA, Diederich KW, Schwarz F, Üllner M, Scheffold T, Kübler W (1987) Influence of infarct perfusion on the serum concentrations of cytosolic CK and structural myosin light chains. Am J Cardiol 60: 440–445
Khaw BA, Beller GA, Haber E, Smith TW (1976) Localization of cardiac myosin-specific antibody in myocardial infarction. J Clin Invest 58: 439–446
Khaw BA, Gold HK, Fallon JT, Haber E (1978) Detection of serum cardiac myosin light chains in acute experimental myocardial infarction: radioimmunoassay of cardiac myosin light chains. Circulation 58:1130–1136
Lee T, Goldman L (1986) Serum enzyme assays in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. Ann Intern Med 105:221–233
Lee TH, Weisberg MC, Cook EF, Daley K, Brand DA, Goldman L (1987) Evaluation of creatine kinase and creatine kinase-MB for diagnosing myocardial infarction. Arch Intern Med 147: 115–121
Leger JOC, Bouvagnet BP, Roncucci R, Leger JJ (1985) Levels of ventricular myosin fragments in human sera after myocardial infarction, determined with monoclonal antibodies to myosin heavy chains. Eur J Clin Invest 15: 422–429
Leger JOC, Larue C, Ming T, Calzolari C, Gautier P, Mouton C, Grolleau R, Louisot P, Puech P, Peperstraete B, Staroukine M, Telerman M, Pau B, Leger JJ (1990) Assay of serum cardiac myosin heavy chain fragments in patients with acute myocardial infarction: determination of infarct size and long-term follow-up. Am Heart J 120:781–790
Luna A, Villanueva E, Castellano M, Jiménez G (1982) The determination of CK, LDH and its isoenzymes in pericardial fluid and its application to the postmortem diagnosis of myocardial infarction. Forensic Sci Int 19: 85–91
Luna A, Carmona A, Villanueva E (1983) The postmortem determination of CK isozymes in the pericardial fluid in various causes of death. Forensic Sci Int 22: 23–30
Nagai R, Ueda S, Yazaki Y (1979) Radioimmunoassay of cardiac myosin light chain II in the serum following experimental myocardial infarction. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 86:683–688
Nagai R, Chiu CC, Yamaoku R, Ohuchy Y, Ueda S, Imatakul K, Yazaki Y (1983) Evaluation of methods for estimation of infarct size by myosin light chain 2: comparison with cardiac enzymes. Am J Physiol 245: 413–419
Stewart RV, Zumwalt RE, Hirsch CS, Kaplan L (1984) Postmortem diagnosis of myocardial disease by enzyme analysis of pericardial fluid. Am J Clin Pathol 82:411–417
Stone MJ, Willerson JT (1983) Myoglobinemia in myocardial infarction. Int J Cardiol 4:49–52
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pérez-Cárceles, M.D., Osuna, E., Vieira, D.N. et al. Usefulness of myosin in the postmortem diagnosis of myocardial damage. Int J Leg Med 108, 14–18 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01845610
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01845610