Heart
Author:
Mikael Häggström [note 1]
Contents
Fixation
Generally 10% neutral buffered formalin.
See also: General notes on fixation
Presentations
Gross processing
Heart specimens are generally not inked.
Basic microscopic screening
Generally check for signs of myocardial infarction. Further information: Autopsy of myocardial infarction
Common findings
Myocardial lipofuscin reflects normal ageing rather than any cardiac pathology,[1] and does not need mentioning in the elderly.
Ruptured intercalated discs. Further information: Ruptured intercalated discs
Fibrosis. Further information: Myocardial fibrosis
Myocardial hypertrophy (in right image, compared to normal at left).
Rectangular "Boxcar" nuclei: Look for myocardial hypertrophy, especially when enlarged. Otherwise, ruptured intercalated discs can cause square shaped nuclei.
Lymphocytic myocarditis (white arrow points to a lymphocyte), commonly showing myocyte necrosis (black arrow), seen as hypereosinophilic cytoplasm with loss of striations.
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Notes
- ↑ For a full list of contributors, see article history. Creators of images are attributed at the image description pages, seen by clicking on the images. See Patholines:Authorship for details.
Main page
References
Image sources
