Postmortem ion analysis of the myocardium in surgically correctible heart malformations

Commonly, children dying after operation on congenital cardiac malformation, show only minor histological changes in the myocardium. We have attempted to correlate the myocardial ion (Na+, K+, Ca2+) composition with the probable severity of hypoxia. Mean Ca2+ content has been plotted against the mean Na+/K+ ratio of every heart in the present study. A good correlation between these two parameters was demonstrated with full separation of controls and hearts with congenital malformations.