Heart autopsy: Difference between revisions

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'''[[Autopsy]]''' of the '''[[heart]]''':
'''[[Autopsy]]''' of the '''[[heart]]''':
{{Autopsy - comprehensiveness}}
{{Autopsy - comprehensiveness|otherlegend=yes}}</noinclude>
{{Heart - standard autopsy cutting|coronary note= ''More details in section below.''|header=
{{Heart - standard autopsy cutting|coronary note= ''More details in section below.''|header=
==Autopsy cutting checklist==
==Autopsy cutting checklist==
}}
}}
<gallery mode=packed>
In case of suspected infarction, see '''[[autopsy of myocardial infarction]]'''.
File:Gross pathology of papillary muscle infarction.jpg|Circumferential slice of left ventricle, showing a fresh papillary muscle infarction.
 
For left and right wall thickness, uppr limits of 1.5 cm and 0.5 cm, respectively, are generally used to distinguish wall thickening on autopsy.<ref name="Sant’Annade Mello2012">{{cite journal|last1=Sant’Anna|first1=Mirella Pessoa|last2=de Mello|first2=Roberto José Vieira|last3=Montenegro|first3=Luciano Tavares|last4=Araújo|first4=Mônica Modesto|title=Hipertrofia cardíaca esquerda e direita em necropsias de hipertensos|journal=Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira|volume=58|issue=1|year=2012|pages=41–47|issn=01044230|doi=10.1590/S0104-42302012000100013}}</ref><ref group=note>The limit is different from those measured in life by medical imaging, because the left ventricular thicknesses are generally 3-5 mm thicker at autopsy than during life. In comparison, the average thickness of the left ventricle is up to 8 mm in women and 9 mm in men on MRI, using the 95% prediction interval for the short axis images at the mid-cavity level.<br>- {{cite journal|last1=Kawel|first1=Nadine|last2=Turkbey|first2=Evrim B.|last3=Carr|first3=J. Jeffrey|last4=Eng|first4=John|last5=Gomes|first5=Antoinette S.|last6=Hundley|first6=W. Gregory|last7=Johnson|first7=Craig|last8=Masri|first8=Sofia C.|last9=Prince|first9=Martin R.|last10=van der Geest|first10=Rob J.|last11=Lima|first11=João A.C.|last12=Bluemke|first12=David A.|title=Normal Left Ventricular Myocardial Thickness for Middle-Aged and Older Subjects With Steady-State Free Precession Cardiac Magnetic Resonance|journal=Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging|volume=5|issue=4|year=2012|pages=500–508|issn=1941-9651|doi=10.1161/CIRCIMAGING.112.973560}}</ref>
<gallery heights=190 widths=350px>
File:Gross pathology of papillary muscle infarction.jpg|Circumferential slice of left ventricle, showing a fresh papillary muscle '''infarction'''.
File:Gross pathology of left ventricular hypertrophy.jpg|Concentric left ventricular hypertrophy. Left ventricle is at right in image, serially sectioned from apex to near base.
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==Coronary arteries==
==Gross examination of coronary arteries==
[[File:Coronary vessels, with annotated arteries.svg|thumb]]
[[File:Coronary vessels, with annotated arteries.svg|thumb]]
Make longitudinal <font color="red">(or transverse cuts at 3 mm intervals<ref name="MichaudBasso2019">{{cite journal|last1=Michaud|first1=Katarzyna|last2=Basso|first2=Cristina|last3=d’Amati|first3=Giulia|last4=Giordano|first4=Carla|last5=Kholová|first5=Ivana|last6=Preston|first6=Stephen D.|last7=Rizzo|first7=Stefania|last8=Sabatasso|first8=Sara|last9=Sheppard|first9=Mary N.|last10=Vink|first10=Aryan|last11=van der Wal|first11=Allard C.|title=Diagnosis of myocardial infarction at autopsy: AECVP reappraisal in the light of the current clinical classification|journal=Virchows Archiv|year=2019|issn=0945-6317|doi=10.1007/s00428-019-02662-1}}
To find the right and left coronary arteries, look distally to each corresponding aortic valve cusp.
*This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)</ref>)</font> through:
 
Make longitudinal {{Moderate-begin}}(or transverse cuts at 3 mm intervals<ref name="MichaudBasso2019">{{cite journal|last1=Michaud|first1=Katarzyna|last2=Basso|first2=Cristina|last3=d’Amati|first3=Giulia|last4=Giordano|first4=Carla|last5=Kholová|first5=Ivana|last6=Preston|first6=Stephen D.|last7=Rizzo|first7=Stefania|last8=Sabatasso|first8=Sara|last9=Sheppard|first9=Mary N.|last10=Vink|first10=Aryan|last11=van der Wal|first11=Allard C.|title=Diagnosis of myocardial infarction at autopsy: AECVP reappraisal in the light of the current clinical classification|journal=Virchows Archiv|year=2019|issn=0945-6317|doi=10.1007/s00428-019-02662-1}}
*This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)</ref>{{Moderate-end}} through:
*The right coronary artery.
*The right coronary artery.
*<font color="red">(The right marginal artery)</font>
*{{Comprehensive-begin}}The right marginal artery{{Comprehensive-end}}
*The left coronary and circumflex artery.
*The left coronary and circumflex artery.
*The left anterior descending artery.
*The left anterior descending artery.
*<font color="red">(The left marginal artery)</font>
*{{Comprehensive-begin}}The left marginal artery{{Comprehensive-end}}
*<font color="red">(The left diagonal branch)</font>
*{{Comprehensive-begin}}The left diagonal branch{{Comprehensive-end}}
*<font color="green"><nowiki>Any vessel grafts to the heart</nowiki></font>
*{{Finding-begin}}Any vessel grafts to the heart{{Finding-end}}
 
Examine for atherosclerosis, stenosis and thrombi


Estimate the percentage of any significant stenosis or occlusion.
{{Moderate-begin}}If the coronary arteries are calcified, sharply dissect them from the heart, without cutting too deeply into the muscle. Fix them in formalin, decalcify them and then cut them at 3 mm intervals.{{Moderate-end}}
<gallery mode=packed>
 
Estimate the percentage of any significant stenosis or occlusion. {{Further|Arteries|linebreak=no}}
<gallery mode=packed heights=200>
File:Plaque at different degrees of atherosclerotic stenosis.jpg|Plaque at different percentages of atherosclerotic stenosis.<ref name="MichaudBasso2019"/>
File:Plaque at different degrees of atherosclerotic stenosis.jpg|Plaque at different percentages of atherosclerotic stenosis.<ref name="MichaudBasso2019"/>
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The presence of a totally occlusive thrombotic mass confers a diagnosis of likely sudden cardiac death death even in the absence of microscopically visible necrosis.<ref name="MichaudBasso2019"/>
The presence of a totally occlusive thrombotic mass confers a diagnosis of likely sudden cardiac death death even in the absence of microscopically visible necrosis.<ref name="MichaudBasso2019"/>


==Myocardium==
==Weight==
Cardiomegaly can be defined as a weight exceeding the 95th percentile of normal individuals, preferably adjusted for weight, size, age and gender.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://labs.feinberg.northwestern.edu/webster/heart_weight/|title=Chicago model for post-mortem classification of cardiomegaly|website=Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine|accessdate=2020-01-15}}</ref><ref name=chicago group=note>External link: [https://labs.feinberg.northwestern.edu/webster/heart_weight/ Chicago model for post-mortem classification of cardiomegaly], adjusted for weight, size, age and gender.</ref>
[[File:Weight of heart versus body.jpg|thumb|center|300px|Weight of heart versus body.<ref name="KumarLiestøl2014">{{cite journal|last1=Kumar|first1=Neena Theresa|last2=Liestøl|first2=Knut|last3=Løberg|first3=Else Marit|last4=Reims|first4=Henrik Mikael|last5=Mæhlen|first5=Jan|title=Postmortem heart weight: relation to body size and effects of cardiovascular disease and cancer|journal=Cardiovascular Pathology|volume=23|issue=1|year=2014|pages=5–11|issn=10548807|doi=10.1016/j.carpath.2013.09.001}}</ref><ref name=chicago group=note/>]]
 
==Microscopic examination==
===Myocardium===
Look for:
Look for:
*Signs of myocardial infarction:
*Signs of myocardial infarction<noinclude>:
<gallery>
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File:Histopathology of myofiber waviness in myocardial infarction.jpg|Streched/wavy fibres
File:Histopathology of myofiber waviness in myocardial infarction.jpg|Streched/wavy fibres
File:Histopathology of hypereosinophilia and coagulative necrosis of cardiomyocytes.jpg|Coagulative necrosis: ‘hypereosinophilia’
File:Histopathology of hypereosinophilia and coagulative necrosis of cardiomyocytes.jpg|Coagulative necrosis: ‘hypereosinophilia’
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File:Histopathology of granulation tissue with formation of microvessels in myocardial infarction.jpg|Vessel/endothelial sprouts
File:Histopathology of granulation tissue with formation of microvessels in myocardial infarction.jpg|Vessel/endothelial sprouts
File:Histopathology of fibroblast proliferation and early collagen deposition in myocardial infarction.jpg|Fibroblast and young collagen
File:Histopathology of fibroblast proliferation and early collagen deposition in myocardial infarction.jpg|Fibroblast and young collagen
File:Histopathology of dense fibrous scar replacing myocyte loss in myocardial infarction.jpg|Dense fibrosis
File:Histopathology of dense fibrous scar replacing myocyte loss in myocardial infarction.jpg|Fibrosis. {{further|Myocardial fibrosis|linebreak=no}}
</gallery></noinclude>
If one or more is present, see '''[[Autopsy of myocardial infarction]]'''
*{{Moderate-begin}}Optionally, also look for:{{Moderate-end}}
<gallery mode=packed heights=200>>
File:Histopathology of ruptured intercalated discs.jpg|Ruptured intercalated discs. {{Further|Ruptured intercalated discs|linebreak=no}}
File:Histopathology of mitral valve with myxomatous degeneration, annotated.jpg|Myxomatous degeneration of valves.
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If one or more is present, see '''[[Autopsy of myocardial infarction]]'''
*{{Moderate-begin}}Optionally, also perform a '''[[Heart#Basic_microscopic_screening|General microscopic screening]]'''.{{Moderate-end}}
*Ruptured intercalated discs ''(see section below)''
===Ruptured intercalated discs===
[[File:Histopathology of ruptured intercalated discs.jpg|thumb|Ruptured intercalated discs, in this case regarded as a visual artifact.]]
Ruptured intercalated discs have two main causes:
*Microtome processing, thereby being a visual artifact,<ref>[https://books.google.se/books?id=7SxiDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 Page 38] in: {{cite book|title=The Etiopathogenesis of Coronary Heart Disease: A Heretical Theory Based on Morphology, Second Edition|author=Giorgio Baroldi|publisher=CRC Press|year=2004|isbn=9781498712811}}</ref> not needing reporting.
*Forceful myocardial contraction, in turn mainly caused by ventricular fibrillation<ref name=Fineschi2016>[https://books.google.se/books?id=PcsqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 Page 55] in: {{cite book|title=Pathology of the Heart and Sudden Death in Forensic Medicine|author=Vittorio Fineschi, Giorgio Baroldi, Malcolm D. Silver|publisher=CRC Press|year=2016|isbn=9781420006438}}</ref> or electric shock,<ref name="FineschiKarch2005">{{cite journal|last1=Fineschi|first1=Vittorio|last2=Karch|first2=Steven B.|last3=D'Errico|first3=Stefano|last4=Pomara|first4=Cristoforo|last5=Riezzo|first5=Irene|last6=Turillazzi|first6=Emanuela|title=Cardiac pathology in death from electrocution|journal=International Journal of Legal Medicine|volume=120|issue=2|year=2005|pages=79–82|issn=0937-9827|doi=10.1007/s00414-005-0011-8}}</ref>
Additional signs indicating forceful myocardial contraction, and thereby the mentioning of the findings in the report, are:<ref name=Fineschi2016/><ref name="FineschiKarch2005"/>
*Alternating bundles of hypercontracted myocytes with hyperdistended ones.
*Square-shaped myocardiocyte nuclei.
*Hyperdistended myocardiocytes with detached sarcomeres, and in proximity of hypercontracted myocardiocytes.


==Reporting==
==Reporting==
Example report:
This is en example report:
{{Heart autopsy report}}
{{Heart autopsy report}}
{{Reporting}}
{{Reporting}}
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