What the CK-MB Test (Creatine Kinase MB) measures
Creatine kinase is an enzyme found in muscle, and its MB form is concentrated in heart muscle, with smaller amounts in skeletal muscle. When heart muscle is injured, CK-MB rises in the blood within hours, peaks around a day later and usually returns to normal within two to three days. It was for many years a main blood marker for heart attacks. High-sensitivity troponin tests have since largely replaced it because they are more sensitive and more specific to the heart, but CK-MB is still sometimes used by cardiologists, for example to help judge the timing of a fresh injury because it falls faster than troponin. CK-MB can also rise without any heart problem: after intense exercise, muscle injury, intramuscular injections, in some muscle diseases and in kidney failure, so it is always read with symptoms, an ECG and other tests. Most importantly, this is not a test to book for chest pain. New chest pain, pressure or breathlessness needs emergency care at a hospital straight away.
Price: the CK-MB Test (Creatine Kinase MB) costs ₹560 at Pure Bliss (MRP ₹700), with the sample collected at our Action Area 2, New Town centre or at your home.
Who this test is for
- Follow-up testing ordered by a cardiologist after a heart event
- Assessing muscle damage alongside total CPK, as advised by a doctor
- Monitoring known heart or muscle conditions
- Not for self-testing new chest pain, which needs a hospital
How to prepare, the sample, and when to expect the report
Preparation
No fasting is needed. Avoid intense exercise for 48 hours before the test if you can, and tell us about any recent injections into a muscle, falls or injuries.
Sample
Blood, from a vein in the arm (serum).
Reporting time
Morning samples are reported the same day; later samples by the next day.
Reading the result
Reference ranges differ between laboratories, so your report lists the laboratory’s own range beside each value. A result outside the range does not always mean illness; ask your doctor to explain it.
- Centre or home collection
- NABL-accredited Redcliffe Labs collection centre
- How collection works →