[Tomo- and thermographic structure analysis of the myocardium]

The myocardial body consists of striated muscle fibers which branch densely to form a spiral substructure. Its functional significance is still subject to discussion. Recently, a model of this looping fiber system has been prepared, starting and inserting at the root of the aorta and of the pulmonary artery. Its arrangement fits well with the component lay out of the coronary and the conductive system. Since it is theoretically possible to produce a macroscopic preparation corresponding to any fascicular substructure in densely woven tissue, we used noninvasive means to ascertain whether, during life, the loop structure within the myocardial body is a dynamic arrangement of fiber trajectories, of which postmortem investigations are able to provide only a static impression. Computer tomography and thermography using coronary gas perfusion showed that the heart muscle contains spiral preferential fiber arrangements circling the ventricular cavities.