[The use of endomyocardial biopsy in diagnosing cardiomyopathy and myocarditis]

The data available in the literature on history and improvement of a method of endomyocardial biopsy, indications and contraindications for its use and its value in the diagnosis of various types of cardiomyopathies and myocarditis are presented and generalized. The paper also gives a morphological picture of dilated, hypertrophic, and restrictive cardiomyopathies, as well as myocarditis occurring in dilated cardiomyopathy. It was concluded that endomyocardial biopsies were safe and highly diagnostically significant.