[Endomyocardial biopsy: its value in tropical pathology. Apropos of 3 new cases]

The authors report their experience with three endomyocardial biopsies in cases of endomyocardial fibrosis; two of them were successful. The light and electron microscopical changes found were of two types: one showed the classical appearances of pure fibrosis, which was acellular and associated with degenerative changes in the heart muscle cell; the other type consisted of young fibrous tissue with numerous fibroblasts secreting a copious fibrillary substance which may have been the precursor of collagen fibres. Endomyocardial biopsy is, in experienced hand, a useful means of diagnosis in the field of tropical heart disease: it can be helpful in diagnosis, provided that the biopsy site is carefully controlled by anteriography and cathereisation; additionally, the opportunity to study the histological and electron microscopical changes which this technique affords should lead to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of those tropical cardiac disorders whose aetiology is yet to be established.