Serum Myoglobin in Acute Cerebrovascular Diseases

Concentration of myoglobin in serum was measured from 114 patients with acute cerebrovascular diseases and compared with serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and aldolase activities. The results obtained were as follows : (1) Elevated activity of myoglobin was observed in various types of stroke as well as CPK and aldolase. (2) The myoglobin level was significantly higher in patients with thalamic hemorrhage than in those with cortical infarction, while no difference was observed in other types of stroke. (3) The level of myoglobin was correlated well with the CPK level, but not with aldolase. (4) Correlation between myoglobin and level of consciousness was not observed. (5) No difference in myoglobin concentration in patients was observed between the died within four weeks and the survived. These results indicated that measurement of serum myoglobin in acute cerebrovascular diseases would not be useful for determining the type, severity and prognosis of the diseases.