STUDY OF C-REACTIVE PROTEIN IN THE SERA OF PATIENTS WITH ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION *

CLASSIC myocardial infarction rarely presents a diagnostic problem; the history, physical findings, electrocardiographic changes and alteration of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate all clearly indicate the diagnosis. In states of coronary insufficiency where lesser degrees of myocardial necrosis super-vene, the diagnosis often is not apparent, and newer diagnostic aids are therefore sought. One such newer aid, the C-reactive protein, is promising. C-reactive protein, an abnormal protein absent from the blood of normal patients, appears as an acute phase response in a variety of clinical condi-tions, such as inflammation, neoplasia and granuloma formation.1 Lof-strom,2'8 employing the technic of pneumococcus capsular swelling for detecting C-reactive protein in patients ' sera, described the appearance of this abnormal protein following acute myocardial infarction. Hedlund,4 utilizing the same method, studied the sera of 48 patients with myocardial infarction. All but one had C-reactive protein in their blood. The acute phase protein appeared on the second or third day, reached its maximum o