Autopsy cases of giant heart during the past ten years in Osaka (1985-1994).
We collected data from 30 autopsied cases, in which the heart weight were 800 g or more (maximum 1,300 g), at the Osaka Medical Examiner's office, for past 10 years. Among these cases, the cause of death was cardiac failure in 17 cases (56.7%), followed by pulmonary diseases (3 cases, 10.0%), cerebral infarction (3 cases, 10.0%), and aortic rupture (2 cases, 6.6%). The mean weight of the giant hearts was 880 g (about 77% of the cases) and 4 cases (13%) had 1,000 g or more. The mean height of the giant heart victims was close to the standard level, and thus the mean level of the ratio of heart weight to height were about 2.5 times higher than the standard levels. The liver weights were also greater by 500-1,000 g than the standard levels.
Sugiyama
S
S
Department of Legal Medicine, Kinki Univerisity School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
Tatsumi
S
S
Noda
H
H
Yamaguchi
M
M
Furutani
A
A
Yoshimura
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001827:Body Height; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D009929:Organ Size