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Muscle fiber disarray in common heart diseases
Insights
Myocardial fiber disarray was detected in all 53 studied hearts, including those with cardiovascular disease and normal hearts. This disarray was mild and less severe than that seen in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular pathology
- Histopathology
- Cardiac morphology
Background:
- Myocardial fiber disarray is a key feature in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
- The prevalence and degree of disarray in other cardiovascular conditions are less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the presence and degree of myocardial fiber disarray in patients with various cardiovascular diseases compared to normal hearts.
- To compare the extent of disarray with that found in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Main Methods:
- Necropsy examination of 53 human hearts.
- Histopathological analysis of myocardial tissue.
- Categorization of hearts based on cardiovascular disease status (systemic hypertension, coronary heart disease, cor pulmonale) and normal controls.
Main Results:
- Myocardial fiber disarray was present in all 53 hearts examined.
- The degree of disarray was consistently mild across all patient groups.
- Hearts with cardiovascular disease and normal hearts showed similar mild degrees of disarray.
- The amount of myocardial fiber disarray was significantly less than that typically observed in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Conclusions:
- Mild myocardial fiber disarray is a common finding, not exclusive to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
- The degree of disarray in systemic hypertension, coronary heart disease, and cor pulmonale is substantially lower than in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
- Further research may clarify the clinical significance of mild myocardial fiber disarray in various cardiac conditions.
Abstract:
Myocardial fiber disarray was found at necropsy in each of 53 hearts, 33 from patients with cardiovascular disease--systemic hypertension (12 patients), coronary heart disease (17 patients) or cor pulmonale (4 patients)--and 20 from patients with a normal heart. The myocardial fiber disarray was of mild degree in all 53 patients and, although similar to that observed by others in hearts of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the amount of myocardial fiber disarray per heart was considerably less than that observed in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.