title: Secondary athrocytotic cardiomyopathy--heart damage due to Wilson's disease.
abstract: Post-mortem atomic absorption spectrophotometry of the myocardium of a 14-year-old boy revealed a hundred-fold increase in copper. Further electrolyte analysis of the myocardium showed changes corresponding to metabolic heart muscle damage. Ultrastructural examination showed all the feature of a cardiomyopathy at the cellular level. Laser-Microprobe-Mass-Analysis demonstrated an inhomogeneous distribution of copper. An essential factor in the mechanism of death is heart damage.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis; D006527:Hepatolenticular Degeneration / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000032:analysis / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D003300:Copper