Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine

Original Articles

The Significance of Ventricular Volume in the Evaluation of Secondary Cardiomyopathy at Autopsy.: Joo Young Na, Byung Woo Min, Yeong Hui Kim, Seung Hyun Chung, Young Jik Lee, Hyung Seok Kim, Jong Tae Park; Korean J Pathol. 2011;45(4):336-347.; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4132/KoreanJPathol.2011.45.4.336

Abstract PDF: BACKGROUND
The weight, shape and consistency of the heart, and the thickness of the ventricular wall are used as parameters for evaluating postmortem heart and diagnosing cardiomyopathy at autopsy.
METHODS
The weight and volume of the ventricles and the thickness of the left ventricular wall of 58 hearts were measured and analyzed.
RESULTS
In the group of dilated hearts, the ventricular weight, ventricular volume, ventricular volume/ventricular weight, and left ventricular volume/right ventricular volume increased, whereas ventricular wall thickness decreased. In the group of hypertrophied hearts, the ventricular weight, ventricular volume, and thickness of the ventricular wall increased but ventricular volume/ventricular weight and left ventricular volume/right ventricular volume did not change significantly. In the group of undetermined hearts, it was later found that four of the cases should have been included in the dilated heart group and another two cases in the hypertrophied heart group.
CONCLUSIONS
In addition to conventional methods, the measuring ventricular volume is useful for evaluating a postmortem heart and may suggest postmortem differential diagnoses of dilated or hypertrophied forms of secondary cardiomyopathies.

Effect of Probucol and Verapamil on Injury to Myocardium and Nerve Fibers in Rat Heart Induced by Doxorubicin.: Sang Yeop Yi, Sang Ho Cho, Woo Ick Yang; Korean J Pathol. 2004;38(6):378-387.

Abstract PDF: BACKGROUND
Doxorubicin is considered to be one of the most effective drugs to treat a variety of human cancers. However, the dose-dependent cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin limits its clinical usefulness. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of probucol and verapamil on the cardiac neurotoxicity and cardiomyopathy induced by the long-term use of doxorubicin.
METHODS
Sprague-Dawley male rats were grouped as the control group, the doxorubicin treated group, the doxorubicin treated with probucol group, and the doxorubicin treated with verapamil group. The rats were treated for 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks. H&E staining and immunohistochemical staining for protein gene product 9.5, caspase-3, heat shock protein 70, and hsp 25 were performed.
RESULTS
The degree of interstitial inflammatory cell infiltration was mildest in the probucol treated group. The reduction in the number of nerve fibers in the probucol treated group was less than the other treatment groups. There was a negative correlation between the treatment duration and stained nerve fibers in all the treatment groups. The number of caspase-3 positive cells was more increased in the doxorubicin group and the verapamil treated group than in the control and probucol treated group.
CONCLUSION
It is suggested that probucol partly contributed to the inhibition of doxorubicin-induced cardiac neurotoxicity and cardiomyopathy, whereas the verapamil had no effect.

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