Right ventricular damage due to pulmonary embolism: examination of the number of infiltrating macrophages.
To investigate the pathological changes in the heart induced by pulmonary embolism, 20 autopsy cases of pulmonary embolism and 10 control cases of acute death from traumatic injury were examined. Adding to the routine hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, immunostaining with CD68 pan-macrophage marker was performed on the specimens obtained from both right and left ventricular walls. The number of macrophages was counted semi-quantitatively in 100 random high-power fields (HPF). Although typical pathological findings of myocardial infarction was not observed in any of the cases, 16 of the 20 pulmonary embolism cases showed an increase in the number of macrophages, mainly in the right ventricular wall. Four cases showed massive macrophage infiltration in the entire right ventricular wall. It is speculated that ischemia due to pulmonary embolism may be connected to its pathogenesis.
Iwadate
Kimiharu
K
Department of International Health Development, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Yushima 1-5-45, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8519 Tokyo, Japan. iwadate.legm@med.tmd.ac.jp
Doi
Mikio
M
Tanno
Kozo
K
Katsumura
Seiko
S
Ito
Haruo
H
Sato
Keita
K
Yonemura
Isamu
I
Ito
Yohko
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic / Q000032:analysis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D018497:Ventricular Dysfunction, Right / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D000097382:CD68 Molecule
D015703:Antigens, CD; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic; C067980:CD68 antigen, human; D000097382:CD68 Molecule