Myocardial injury was assessed with the use of enzyme indexes in 40 patients randomly assigned to one of two groups undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery. Twenty patients received cold cardioplegia delivered by retrograde coronary sinus perfusion and 20 received cardioplegic solution by anterograde aortic root perfusion. Creatine kinase isoenzyme MB and lactate dehydrogenese isoenzyme 1 and isoenzyme 2 assays were carried out on blood samples obtained from the coronary sinus before aortic cross-clamping and 0, 5, and 30 min after aortic unclamping. Levels of these enzymes were also obtained from venous blood samples before aortic cross-clamping and 3, 8, 14, and 20 hr after aortic unclamping and 2, 3, 4, and 5 days after surgery. Preoperative and postoperative hemodynamic measurements (Swan-Ganz catheter) and radionuclide wall motion studies were also obtained for comparison. There was no overall significant difference between the two groups postoperatively in terms of enzyme indexes, hemodynamic measurements, or results of wall motion studies. We conclude that retrograde coronary sinus perfusion is an alternative to aortic root perfusion in delivering cold cardioplegia. More studies are required to determine which subgroup of patients with coronary artery disease may benefit from retrograde coronary perfusion.