The pathology of idiopathic cardiomegaly in Jamaica - abstract

ABSTRACT

Since 1966 twenty-five cases of idiopathic cardiomegaly (ICM) have been examined at post mortem in the Pathology Department, University of the West Indies. Hearts were injected with micropaque and coloropaque and subsequently X-rayed to study the vasculature, including the microvasculature. Microscopic sections of various parts of the heart together with skip sectioning of the conduction system were done. Microscopically the hearts were heavy and dilated, with no abnormality of the valves or coronary vessels. Half of the hearts had thrombi (mostly small) in one or more of the four chambers, but endocardial thickening was minimal. Microscopically the changes in the myocardium were non-specific but twenty of the twenty-five hearts showed some pathology in the conduction system particularly the left bundle branch. Four of the hearts showed thickening of the intramural vessels of the interventricular septum. The microvascular pattern of ICM is different from that of the normal heart and also different from the atherosclerotic and hypertensive hearts (AU)