title: Histopathological findings in skeletal muscle used in human dynamic cardiomyoplasty.
abstract: Patients submitted to dynamic cardiomyoplasty had an initial clinical improvement followed by a decrease in cardiac failure indices. A histopathological study of the skeletal muscle was undertaken to explain this. Latissimus dorsi fragments from 15 patients submitted to dynamic cardiomyoplasty in a 1:1 (heart beat:muscle stimulation) conditioning were analysed by light microscopy. The interval between surgery and obtaining the specimens (13 from necropsies, two from heart transplants) ranged from 37 days to 6 years. Nuclear clumps and internalization, the presence of round fibres, inflammation, and fibrosis were analysed semi-quantitatively; the thickness of muscle fibres and the percentage of tissue fat were measured by image analysis. The quantitative data were also compared, in 12 cases, with gender- and age-matched necropsy controls. The mean thickness of muscle fibres in cases and controls was 27.21+/-5.33 and 40.84+/-9.42 microm, respectively (p=0.001). The percentage of tissue fat in cases and controls was 12.04+/-12.66% and 0.93+/-0.91%, respectively (p=0.008). The duration of grafts correlated positively with the quantity of nuclear clumps (R=0.80, p<0.001) and round fibres (R=0.53, p=0.04), as well as with the percentage of tissue fat (R=0.68, p=0.005). Accordingly, a negative correlation was found between the duration of grafts and the mean diameter of fibres, characterizing muscle atrophy (R=-0.66, p=0.01). The longer the post-surgical period, the more intense the degenerative lesions. This study shows that skeletal muscle used in human dynamic cardiomyoplasty may atrophy and be replaced by fat when stimulation is synchronized to every cardiac beat. These findings could play a role in explaining the long-term results of this surgical procedure.
authors.affiliation: Heart Institute (InCor), University of São Paulo Medical School, Av. Dr Enéas C. Aguiar 44, 05403-000 São Paulo SP, Brazil. anppaulo@incor.usp.br
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.forename: W O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Pires
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Marie
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mady
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Stolf
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ramires
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018421:Cardiomyoplasty; D005260:Female; D005355:Fibrosis; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D011184:Postoperative Period; D019739:Skeletal Muscle Ventricle / Q000473:pathology*; D013318:Stroke Volume