[Diagnostic contribution of endomyocardial biopsy in suspected latent cardiomyopathy]

Twenty-eight patients with suspected diagnosis of latent cardiomyopathy are reported. In all patients left ventricular endomyocardial biopsy (five or more specimens) was performed after noninvasive and invasive investigations. The indication to investigate invasively arose from clinical symptoms in combination with uncertain ECG disturbances. Coronary heart disease, latent myocarditis and latent cardiomyopathy were to be excluded. Hemodynamic parameters proved to be normal or borderline at rest. Angiocardiography and coronary angiography revealed no pathological findings. But in all cases the histological results of endomyocardial biopsy were characterized by pathological criteria as follows: inflammatory myocardial process, narrowing or obliterating diseases of intramural small arteries, exogenous-toxic myocardial disturbances, idiopathic cardiomyopathy, endomyocardial fibrosis with endocardial thrombus and infiltrations of eosinophiles. Four cases are demonstrated as examples.