CORRELATION BETWEEN ENDOMYOCARDIAL BIOPSIES AND VENTRICLE FULL-THICKNESS SAMPLES IN DILATED CARDIOMYOPATHY - A STUDY OF MYOCYTES AND FIBROSIS

Eight patients with end-stage dilated cardiomyopathy were studied. Right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy morphometric findings were correlated with those of full-thickness samples of the right ventricle and interventricular septum obtained from the hearts of the same patients at cardiac transplant. The percentage area of myocytes and fibrosis was measured on histologic sections by means of a quantitative method. The results showed a close correlation between fibrosis and myocytes of biopsies and those of subendocardial, subepicardial, and midwall layers of the right ventricle free wall. No correlation was found with the subendocardial layers or with the midwall of the interventricular septum. These data suggest that histologic features of biopsies taken from the right ventricle from patients with dilated cardiomyopathy resemble those of the right ventricle free wall only.