Exploratory mediastinotomy in primary myocardial disease

Summary Exploratory mediastinotomy with myocardial biopsy is a practical, relatively safe procedure. It has permitted definitive diagnoses to be made in a significant number of patients and has allowed the exclusion of treatable diseases in all the others. We report on our last 25 consecutive patients who underwent this procedure. We consider that our method offers the patient hope for more accurate diagnosis, prognosis and rational therapy of his poorly understood disease. The biopsied cardiac muscle tissue so obtained has undergone extensive study, despite which, many questions remain unanswered. Plans are discussed for future, more elaborate study of the biopsy material.