Cardiac Markers. Alan H.B. Wu, ed. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 1998, 300 pp., $99.50. ISBN 0-89603-434-8.

The first serum marker [serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), also known as aspartate transaminase (AST)] to facilitate the diagnosis of myocardial infarction (MI) was described in 1954. It took 20 years before the next significant development was documented in the form of creatine kinase (CK)-MB measurement. However, the pace of discovery of new markers of MI has since accelerated. We have seen the emergence of completely new, nonenzymatic MI markers, such as the cardiac troponins, during the past 10 years. Descriptions of experimental immunoassays for measuring other structural proteins of the myocardium are published almost daily. “Old” markers have been given new life in the form of CK-MB isoforms, and we are looking for biochemical markers that will predict imminent MI instead of documenting the fact that the myocardium has suffered an ischemic injury. Additionally, the new markers have redefined our understanding of the ischemic syndromes and are changing traditional …