Objective. To determine whether serum vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF）concentrations are altered in several kinds of coronary heart disease patients. Materials and methods. Using a VEGF enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）

serum VEGF concentrations were determined in antecubital venous blood of 16 patients with stable angina pectoris（SAP）

16 with unstable angina pectoris（UAP） and 16 with acute myocardial infarction（AMI） before and after thrombolytic therapy

and of 16 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers who used as controls. Results. The concentrations of serum VEGF in patients with SAP（9860±2699pg/ml） and UAP （10361±2489pg/ml） tended to be higher than those in control subjects（8044±2457pg/ml）

but the differences did not reach statistical significance （P>005 for each）. Before thrombolytic therapy

the concentrations of serum VEGF in patients with AMI （28592±12515pg/ml） were significantly higher than those in patients with SAP

UAP or control subjects （P<001

respectively）

and correlated with synchronous serum creatine kinase （CK） and its MB isoenzyme （CK-MB） contents（r=0866

P<0001 and r=0948

P<0001;respectively）. Three hours after thrombolysis

the concentrations of VEGF had fallen to 11157±3129pg/ml （P<001 vs. before thrombolytic therapy and P<005 vs.control subjects）. Conclusion. The present study shows that serum concentrations of VEGF in patients with AMI are markedly elevated and that increased serum VEGF levels may be one of the most sensitive indexes in diagnosing AMI and judging reperfusion.