Buy backpacks, exercise machines, athletic shoes, and more at Fogdog Sports. Abnormal results Definition Testing for antimyocardial antibodies is done when evaluating a person for heart damage or heart disease. Purpose Antimyocardial antibodies are autoantibodies. Normal antibodies are special proteins built by the body as a defense against foreign material entering the body. Autoantibodies are also proteins built by the body, but instead of attacking foreign material, they inappropriately attack the body's own cells.
Antimyocardial antibodies attack a person's heart muscle, or myocardium.
It also may be done on someone with heart disease, such as cardiomyopathy or rheumatic fever . Although the presence of antimyocardial antibodies does not diagnose heart damage or disease, there is a connection between the presence of these antibodies and damage to the heart. The amount of damage, however, cannot be predicted by the amount of antibodies. These antibodies usually appear after heart surgery or the beginning of disease, but they may be present before surgery or the onset of disease. A 5-10 mL sample of venous blood is drawn from the patient's arm in the region of the inner elbow.