CPK isoenzymes test

Hello everyone, I was wondering has anyone has had a CPK test; and if your results were high. I'm really curious what it means in autoimmune issues such as lupus.  

(A CPK is a blood test that measures creatine phosphokinase (CPK), an enzyme found mainly in the heart, brain, and skeletal muscle.)

 I know it can be an indicator of a heart attack, and thats all I really know.  Any information would be greatly appriciated.  Thank you all and have a wonderful day. 

Thanks Lynnwood, Have a great week end.

Thanks so much Judy, I didn't realize that my seizures could have anything to do with my test reading. They ordered a retest, I should find out those results this week. I do have the chest pain which has been attributed to lupus, my GP and Rheumy seemed concerned about the test and muscle atrophy, not a heart attack, ( thank goodness) but really didn't explain much. They told me to have another round of tests. Two perscriptions full, and so many tests that when I got home from the lab, they called me back to draw more blood. They ran out. That made me laugh. Never had them take too little before. Thanx for the info and have a blessed day. Julia

Julia,

CPK tests are used for many reasons to diagnose muscle and brain tissue breakdown.  There is a class of auto immune diseases called myositis (polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and inclusion body myositis) that are inflammatory muscle diseases.  When the disease is active it is breaking down your skeletal muscle cells and your cpk number can be significantly elevated.  Normal range is considered 45-225 but patients with an active myositis disease can have readings of 10000 or even many times that.

I have polymyositis and had a reading of 13000 at the worst.  CPK readings are not always an accurate indication of how bad the disease is or how much damage is being done but it is one measure.  People who work out with weights or those who run marathons or triathelons can temporarily register very high numbers.

Lupus can attack your muscles as well but I don't think that you will register such high cpk readings as someone with myositis.

Some people have overlapping connective tissue diseases like I do.  Mine is called mixed connective tissue disease and is a three-fer:  lupus, scleroderma and polymyositis.  Lots of fun and very rare.  Some have undifferentiated connective tissue disease which is often just a transition to a specific diagnosis and also involved having symptoms of several AI diseases. 

Bill

Hi--
I had mildly elevated CPK with chest pains and irregular EKG and had atrophy of the heart due to anitibodies to it and it was made worse by a medication I was on. When they got it under control, I was OK and the atrophy did heal and go away, though my heartbeat is still irregular. That's all I know about it. They said I had a heart attack, but a mild one, I went to the ER right away.