PART 10: Disorders of the Cardiovascular System
SECTION 4 Disorders of the Heart
238 Cardiomyopathy and Myocarditis
![]() | Figure 238-1 Drawing of myocyte indicating multiple sites of abnormal gene products associated with cardiomyopathy. Major functional groups include the sarcomeric proteins (actin, myosin, tropomyosin, and the associated regulatory proteins), the dystrophin complex stabilizing and connecting the cell... |
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![]() | Figure 238-2 Dilated cardiomyopathy. This gross specimen of a heart removed at the time of transplantation shows massive left ventricular dilation and moderate right ventricular dilation. Although the left ventricular wall in particular appears thinned, there is significant hypertrophy of this heart,... |
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![]() | Figure 238-3 Dilated cardiomyopathy. This echocardiogram of a young man with dilated cardiomyopathy shows massive global dilation and thinning of the walls of the left ventricle (LV). The left atrium (LA) is also enlarged compared to normal. Note that the echocardiographic and pathologic images are... |
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![]() | Figure 238-4 Dilated cardiomyopathy. Microscopic specimen of a dilated cardiomyopathy showing the nonspecific changes of interstitial fibrosis and myocyte hypertrophy characterized by increased myocyte size and enlarged, irregular nuclei. Hematoxylin and eosin stained section, 100 × original... |
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![]() | Figure 238-5 Schematic diagram demonstrating the possible progression from infection through direct, secondary, and autoimmune responses to dilated cardiomyopathy. Most of the supporting evidence for this sequence is derived from animal models. It is not known to what degree persistent infection and/or... |
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![]() | Figure 238-6 Acute myocarditis. Microscopic image of an endomyocardial biopsy showing massive infiltration with mononuclear cells and occasional eosinophils associated with clear myocyte damage. The myocyte nuclei are enlarged and reactive. Such extensive involvement of the myocardium would lead to... |
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![]() | Figure 238-7 Sarcoidosis. Microscopic image of an endomyocardial biopsy showing a noncaseating granuloma and associated interstitial fibrosis typical of sarcoidosis. No microorganisms were present on special stains, and no foreign material was identified. Hematoxylin and eosin stained section,... |
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![]() | Figure 238-8 Hemochromatosis. Microscopic image of an endomyocardial biopsy showing extensive iron deposition within the cardiac myocytes with the Prussian blue stain (400× original magnification). (Image courtesy of Robert Padera, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology, Brigham... |
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![]() | Figure 238-9 Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. A. Cross-sectional slice of a pathology specimen removed at transplantation, showing severe dysplasia of the right ventricle (RV) with extensive fatty replacement of right ventricular myocardium. The remarkably... |
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![]() | Figure 238-10 Restrictive cardiomyopathy—amyloidosis. Gross specimen of a heart with amyloidosis. The heart is firm and rubbery with a waxy cut surface. The atria are markedly dilated and the left atrial endocardium, normally smooth, has yellow-brown amyloid deposits that give texture to the... |
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![]() | Figure 238-11 Restrictive cardiomyopathy—amyloidosis. Echocardiogram showing thickened walls of both ventricles without major chamber dilation. The atria are markedly dilated, consistent with chronically elevated ventricular filling pressures. In this example, there is a characteristic... |
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![]() | Figure 238-12 Amyloidosis—microscopic images of amyloid involving the myocardium. The left panel (hematoxylin-eosin stain) shows glassy, grey-pink amorphous material infiltrating between cardiomyocytes, which stain a darker pink. The right panel shows a sulfated blue stain that highlights the... |
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![]() | Figure 238-13 Fabry's disease. Transmission electron micrograph of a right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy specimen at high magnification showing the characteristic concentric lamellar inclusions of glycosphingolipids accumulating as a result of deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme alpha-galactosidase... |
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![]() | Figure 238-14 Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Gross specimen of a heart with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy removed at the time of transplantation, showing asymmetric septal hypertrophy (septum much thicker than left ventricular free wall) with the septum bulging into the left ventricular outflow tract... |
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![]() | Figure 238-15 Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This echocardiogram of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy shows asymmetric hypertrophy of the septum compared to the lateral wall of the left ventricle (LV). The mitral valve is moving anteriorly toward the hypertrophied septum in systole. The left atrium (LA) is... |
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![]() | Figure 238-16 Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Microscopic image of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy showing the characteristic disordered myocyte architecture with swirling and branching rather than the usual parallel arrangement of myocyte fibers. Myocyte nuclei vary markedly in size and interstitial fibrosis... |
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![]() | Figure 238-17 Treatment algorithm for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy depending on the presence and severity of symptoms, and the presence of an intraventricular gradient with obstruction to outflow. Note that all patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy should be evaluated for risk of sudden death,... |
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