Acute myocardial infarction diagnosed by myoglobinuria.

Myoglobin can be found in excess in the urines of some patients with acute myocardial infarction. To test the specificity of this finding, urine specimens were analyzed from 39 patients with provisional diagnosis of myocardial infarction by means of a hemagglutination-inhibition technique with prepared antisera to monkey myoglobin. Of 24 patients with subsequently documented myocardial infarction, 15 had at least one positive determination. None of the 15 patients without infarction had positive tests. Ten of 13 patients with infarction studied within 24 hours of the initial event had positive reactions. The percentage of positive reactions in the infarct group decreased sharply after the first 24 hours. This technique may be of value in rapid screening of patients with possible acute myocardial infarction during early stage of symptoms.