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Morphometric comparison of mitochondria and myofibrils of cardiomyocytes between hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathies

Virchows Archiv A volume 416, pages 473–478 (1990)Cite this article

Summary

We performed an ultrastructural, morphometric comparison of mitochondria and myofibrils of cardiomyocytes using endomyocardial biopsy specimens in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Biopsies came from the right ventricular side of the interventricular septum in nine patients with HCM, nine with DCM, and nine controls with arrhythmia and/or ST depression. Morphometric analysis was carried out using electron microscopic photographs and an image analyser. Mitochondria were significantly greater in number and smaller in size in HCM than in the control group. In DCM, the size of mitochondria was also significantly smaller than in the control group, although their number was similar to that of the control group. No statistically significant difference was found regarding the size of mitochondria between HCM and DCM. The percentages of both mitochondrial and myofibrillar areas in cytoplasm were smaller in the DCM than the HCM and control groups, though no difference was seen between the latter two. The ratio of mitochondrial area to myofibrillar area was almost the same in each group. These results suggest increased mitochondrial function to match hypertrophic cardiomyocytes in HCM, and decreased mitochondrial function and cardiomyocytic contractility in DCM.

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Affiliations

  1. Departments of Pathology and Medicine, Iwate Medical University School of Medicine, Uchimaru 19-1, 020, Morioka, Japan

    Atsushi Tashiro, Tomoyuki Masuda & Ikuo Segawa

Authors
  1. Atsushi Tashiro
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  2. Tomoyuki Masuda
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  3. Ikuo Segawa
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Tashiro, A., Masuda, T. & Segawa, I. Morphometric comparison of mitochondria and myofibrils of cardiomyocytes between hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathies. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 416, 473–478 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01600297

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01600297

Key words

  • Cardiomyopathies
  • Ultrastructure
  • Morphometry
  • Mitochondria
  • Myofibrils