Histopathology of the myocardium in cases of sudden coronary death without myocardial infarct and postinfarct cardiosclerosis

231 cases of sudden coronary death of men aged 30-59 were studied; in 138 cases no focal cardiosclerosis of myocardium was observed; in 93 cases there were only few focuses less than 0.5 cm on diameter. In 83.2% of cases severe stenosis of coronary arteries (over 75%) was determined; it occurred more often in subjects aged 30-39 than in older persons. In all the cases myocardial lesions could be found out by dying the cuts with iron hematoxylin by the method of Rego and by investigation in polarized light. Contracture-altered segments of muscle fibers were often combined with hyper-relaxed segments, though in some cases one type alterations prevailed. Other cardiomyocyte alterations (vacuolization, hypertrophy, nucleus polymorphism, windings, fragmentation and so on) were more often in sudden coronary death than in the control group.