Histological changes of myocardium in dilated cardiomyopathy

Abstract Introduction For patients with acute dilated cardiomyopathy, definition of prognosis and of clinical features predictive of outcome is particularly important due to the availability of cardiac transplantation and other innovative treatment strategies. Exact prevalence of DCM in India is not known. The disease is reported to be more prevalent and aggressive in Blacks and in females, while a few other reports had shown a preponderance of males. Methods The present study was undertaken on 60 heart samples, out of which 10 heart samples were enlarged and dilated compared to the control samples. The heart muscle samples were dissected and stained for microscopic evaluation. Result The heart tissue affected with dilated cardiomyopathy showed variation in myocyte size, transmural scars, fibrofatty change, fibrosis and deposition of collagen fibres, as compared to the normal heart tissue, Discussion Dilated cardiomyopathy leads to heart failure which can cause death. So, it is important to know the changes occurring in a heart due to dilated cardiomyopathy for the prognosis and further treatment for the disease. The finding ranges from minimal change to many other variation in the myocytes which is discussed further.