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An analysis of a severe neck pain experienced in a
polymyositis patient.
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| Abstract: |
Following a twisting strain with immediate pain in the neck of a
polymyositis patient we detail the analysis of a specific range of data
gathered before and after the event. The results reinforce that in this
case that the creatine kinase isoenzyme and cardiac Troponin T cannot be
used as an indicator of myocardial disease. Key words: Polymyositis, prednisolone, heart rate, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, creatine kinase, creatine kinase isoenzyme, cardiac troponin T. |
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| Article Type: | Report |
| Subject: |
Enzymes
(Physiological aspects) Prednisolone (Physiological aspects) Polymyositis (Physiological aspects) Cardiac patients (Physiological aspects) Creatine kinase (Physiological aspects) |
| Authors: |
Golding, R.M. Giles, L.G.F. |
| Pub Date: | 04/01/2008 |
| Publication: | Name: American Journal of Immunology Publisher: Science Publications Audience: Professional Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Biological sciences Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2008 Science Publications ISSN: 1553-619X |
| Issue: | Date: April, 2008 Source Volume: 4 Source Issue: 2 |
| Product: | Product Code: 2831600 Enzymes; 2831630 Enzymes for Food Processing NAICS Code: 32519 Other Basic Organic Chemical Manufacturing; 325199 All Other Basic Organic Chemical Manufacturing |
| Accession Number: | 208134190 |
| Full Text: |
INTRODUCTION Recently we published a research [1] that described an analysis of the creatine kinase isoenzyme and cardiac troponin T levels in a polymyositis patient. From an extensive model developed to interpret physiological processes we were able to show that the observed elevated creatine kinase-myoglobin (CK-MB) and serum concentration of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) values for a particular patient are associated with the inflammatory disease, polymyositis and not only myocardial injury. The analysis is focussed particularly on period (i) 27 July 2001 to 3 December 2007, period (ii) 8 August 2001 to 3 December 2007 and period (iii) 28 March 2007 to 3 December 2007 bearing in mind that we have an extensive range of data over a fourteen year period. On 30 March our patient experienced a twisting strain with immediate pain in the neck due to attempting to shift a heavy object whilst sitting; the patient also suffered breathing problems ie. with only very shallow breathing being possible as well as great difficulty in swallowing. The following morning the pain was so severe that an osteopath was consulted. Following a clinical examination of the neck a diagnosis was made of an acute somatic dysfunction of the right cervico-thoracic joint complex, with severe pain over branches of regional nerves, including the brachial and long thoracic nerves with associated protective muscle spasm. This spasm was considered to be caused either by muscle inflammation and or zyapophysial facet joint possible synovitis. The response to mobilising treatment with massage of the posterior neck muscles on two occasions by the osteopath was significant and rapid relief followed with a gradual resolution of pain over one to two weeks. MATERIALS AND METHODS After many years of research, we developed a way to determine the appropriate drug regimen to minimize muscle damage in a particular polymyositis patient [1]. This regimen was adopted in 2001 that included 62.5 mg prednisolone every second day, 2 mg of odrik (trandolapril) and three natural products by Mannatech, namely, 450 mg Ambrotose, three Plus tablets and one PhytAloe tablet per day. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), serum creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase isoenzyme myocardium (CK-MB) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) were recorded every six weeks by the Queensland Medical Laboratories. From the 1 Jan 2001 to 31 Dec 2007 the patient's mean systolic pressure, over this period, was 144.74 [+ or -] 10.49 mmHg, mean diastolic pressure was 79.25 [+ or -] 6.58 mmHg and the mean pulse pressure was 65.49 [+ or -] 9.21 mmHg. The heart rate results for day 1 and day 2, over the same period, are for day 1 are 92.09 [+ or -] 8.50 per min and for day 2 79.03 [+ or -] 7.95 per min. Although there are variations within the day 1 and day 2 values, the average difference, on a yearly basis, is a constant of 13.07 [+ or -] 1.22 per min. This reinforces that we have no evidence of any changes taking place prior to this study. By contrast to the previous study [1], we shall be focussing on a limited range of data from the 14 Jan 2008 to the 30 Jun 2008. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION To explore the effect further, we shall examine the ESR, CK, CK-MB and Troponin T levels gathered in 2008 before and after the 30 March 2008 incident. The results are shown in Table 1. From Table 1 we note the major changes that occurred following the neck problem in the ESR, CKMB and Troponin T values. We note the significant increase in the cardiac troponin T levels recorded on 7 April 2008. Furthermore, by 30 June 2008, the ESR, CK-MB and Troponin T values had approximately returned to the values prior to the 30 March 2008 incident. The systolic pressure and the diastolic pressure from 1 Jan 2008 are shown in Fig. 1. The mean systolic pressure and the mean diastolic pressure are 141.66 [+ or -] 7.42 mmHg and 77.01 [+ or -] 4.82 mmHg respectively. The pulse pressure is 64.64 [+ or -] 6.86 mmHg. This agrees with the results in period (i) in the CK-MB and Trononin T paper [1]. In other words, no change was observed for the mean systolic and the mean diastolic pressures. On the other hand, the difference between the heart rate measured on day 1 and 2 following the prednisolone intake was significantly changed as shown in Fig. 2. The difference between the heart rate measured on day 1 and 2 following the prednisolone intake was reduced to zero following the neck problem but returned to normal within 17 days. Neglecting the results over these seventeen days yields for day 1 a mean of 94.03 [+ or -] 5.57 min-1 and for day 2 a mean of 78.97 [+ or -] 4.87 [min.sup.-1]. These values agree with those given in the CK-MB and Troponin T paper [1]. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] The greatly reduced CK-MB value may be due to the significantly decreased chest muscle activity during the period of shallow breathing, as it is known that chest muscles have more CK-MB than other muscles [2], thus the decreased chest muscle activity may have lowered the CK-MB level. The daily variation of the systolic and diastolic pressures has not changed as would be expected with a skeletal muscle problem. CONCLUSION In summary, our data, following the twisting strain injury of the neck, appear to reinforce the finding that for patients with skeletal muscle diseases such as polymyositis the plasma levels of the creatine kinase isoenzyme and cardiac troponin T cannot be used as an indicator of myocardial disease. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We acknowledge the continued support from the Queensland Medical Laboratories for collecting the required blood samples on a six-weekly basis and for the corresponding pathology reports. REFERENCES [1.] Golding, R.M., L.G.F. Giles and E.M. Sokoya, 2008. An analysis of the creatine kinase isoenzyme and cardiac Troponin T levels in a polymyositis patient. Am. J. Immumol., 4: 1-7. [2.] American Association for Clinical Chemistry, 2008. CK-MB www.labtestsonline.org/ understanding/analytes/ckmb/test.html. Corresponding Author: R.M. Golding, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia (1) R.M. Golding and (2) L.G.F. Giles (1) The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia (2) Murdoch University,South Street, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia Table 1: The ESR, CK, CK-MB and Troponin T levels gathered in
2008 before and after the 30 March 2008 incident
ESR CK CK-MB Troponin T
Date mm [h.sup.-1] IU [L.sup.-1] IU [L.sup.-1] IU
[L.sup.-1]
14 Jan 08 19 160 15.5 0.14
25 Feb 08 18 120 15.0 0.12
7 Apr 08 91 140 7.9 1.22
19 May 08 34 81 12.1 0.09
30 Jun 08 20 110 13.3 0.11 |
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