Clinical Cardiac Abnormalities and Magnesium

Abstract

There are several clinical conditions associated with cardiac abnormalities that resemble those produced by experimental magnesium deficiency or that cause loss of myocardial magnesium. Bajusz (1965b) refers to experimental necrotizing cardiomyopathies to describe a variety of degenerative processes that are more or less confined to the myocardium. He commented that the disease is characterized by subendocardial necrotizing foci, usually without significant disease of the coronary vessels, although comparable disorders can be produced by thrombogenic diets. He observed that “coronary heart diseases” should be classified as primary or secondary cardiomyopathies that result from vascular factors (e.g., coronary artery spasms, local microcirculatory changes), factors that directly affect myocardial metabolism and the susceptibility or resistance of the myocardium at the time of potentially cardiotoxic episodes. He pointed out that, in addition to stress situations, hormones, and age, cardiomyopathy-conditioning factors include sodium excess and deficiencies of chloride, and especially of potassium and magnesium. Bajusz (1969) has stated that the loss of these two cations from the myocardial cells (that are associated with early ultrastructural changes such as enlargement and vacuolization of the sarcoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial degeneration) seem to be important components of many, if not all types of disturbances in cardiac metabolism, resulting in myocardial degeneration, heart failure, or fatal conduction defects.