“What lab values indicate myocardial infarction?”

The most specific lab value is an enzyme called troponin-I in addition to an EKG. Another less sensitive enzyme is CPK or CK. Both are very sensitive. Troponin is more specific but can also be slightly elevated in the absence of a heart attack in times of stress to the heart such as severely elevated blood pressure or prolonged fast heart rates. It has been found to be elevated in times of renal failure.

It's not possible to indicate a myocardial infarction on the basis of lab values alone, but depending on other clinical findings, troponin and CK-MB are the two lab values that typically measure cardiac injury.

Emmanuel Moustakakis, MD, FACC, FSCAI