[Early morphological changes during the development of cardiac hypertrophy (author's transl)]

The development of a cardiac hypertrophy depends on modulation of two parameters, such as the amount of increased work load imposed on the heart and the rapidity with which the work load is applied. A gradual development of cardiac hypertrophy is usually observed in humans; at variance, the induction of cardiac hypertrophy is quite a rapid process in animal experiments. The enlargement of cardiac muscle cells during hypertrophy is due not only to an increased synthesis of contractile proteins but also to an accumulation of other cell constituents parallelly involved in the hypertrophy process. The mechanism whereby new sarcomeres are formed during cardiac hypertrophy is not yet completely clarified. Once the stimulus producing overload is removed, cardiac hypertrophy can regress completely. The possible role of biological regulators in inducing cardiac hypertrophy was also discussed.