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Biomedical subjects

E G Olsen

Publications and source records attributed to E G Olsen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Myocardial bridges: morphological and functional aspects.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the arrangement of myocardial bridges. DESIGN: A necropsy study of 90 consecutive hearts (56 male, 34 female). RESULTS: Myocardial bridges, either single or multiple, were seen in 50 (55.6%) of the 90 hearts. The left anterior descending artery was the most commonly affected artery. Thirty five of the 50 hearts which contained in total 41 muscle bridges were dissected further with a magnifying glass. Two different types of muscle bridges could be identified. Thirty one of these 41 myocardial bridges were superficial, crossing the artery transversely towards the apex of the heart at an acute angle or perpendicularly. The remaining 10 myocardial bridges crossed the left anterior descending coronary artery and surrounded it by a muscle bundle that arose from the right ventricular apical trabeculae and crossed the artery transversely, obliquely, or helically before terminating in the interventricular septum. CONCLUSIONS: The superficial type of myocardial bridge does not seem to constrict the artery during systole but the deep muscle bridges, by virtue of their relation with the left anterior descending coronary artery, could twist the vessel and thus compromise its diastolic flow. This may result in ischaemia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

The incidence of myocarditis in endomyocardial biopsy samples from patients with congestive heart failure.

We present the combined experience of three Yugoslavian cardiovascular centers in the application of endomyocardial biopsy for the diagnosis of myocarditis in patients who present clinically with congestive heart failure. The study group comprised 107 patients (mean age, 40.8 years; range, 19 to 61 years). On the basis of patient history and diagnostic tests, the following clinical diagnoses were established: dilated cardiomyopathy (85), myocarditis (16), and alcohol-induced heart disease (6). EMB samples were taken from the left ventricle (95) or both ventricles (12) by use of a King's College bioptome, with a mean of 3.2 samples per patient. Histologic evidence of myocarditis was noted in 10 of 85 patients (12%) with a clinical diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy, in 2 of 6 patients (33%) with alcohol-induced heart disease, and in 12 of 16 patients (75%) with a clinical diagnosis of myocarditis. There was confirmation of the clinically suspected diagnosis in 63% of cases, a change of diagnosis based on histology in 15% of cases, and nonspecific findings in 22%. However, useful information was obtained in 78% of the cases, and there was a 22% incidence of histologically proven myocarditis for the entire group. Our results indicate that endomyocardial biopsy is beneficial in determining the true incidence of myocarditis in patients with a clinical presentation of dilated cardiomyopathy.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Pars flaccida perforation in tissue culture: morphological study.

Subtotal pars flaccida perforation was effected in vitro in rat tympanic membranes. The drums were subsequently kept in tissue culture and after various intervals studied by means of light and scanning electron microscopy. No complete covering of the perforation was seen, though a marked thickening and hyperplasia of the outer, keratinizing, squamous epithelium (OE) was evident. The inner, tympanal epithelium (IE) appeared swollen, containing rounded structures in the cytoplasm especially close to the contact area with the OE. Ingrowth of OE onto the tympanal side of the drum was seen particularly in the areas where the IE was sparse and completely lacking. Complete covering of a drum perforation seems to be dependent on the formation of supporting granulation tissue, probably resulting from an inflammatory reaction in the healing area.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Gamna-Gandy nodules in a cardiac myxoma.

A 33-year-old female was admitted for surgery for removal of a left atrial myxoma. Histological examination of the tumour showed features characteristic of myxoma. Additionally, Gamna-Gandy bodies were present in the tumour. This is a rare finding.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Echocardiography and pathology of left ventricular "false tendons".

The anatomic incidence of left ventricular false tendons has been determined in 100 hearts obtained from consecutive autopsies on patients who had a wide variety of cardiac conditions. In this series, an anomalous band was found in 34 cases. A retrospective two-dimensional (2D) echocardiographic study was able to identify false tendons in only 18 percent of cases with anatomic evidence of them, indicating 2 mm as the limit of resolution of 2D echocardiography even with appropriate projections. Finally, the histologic examination has shown false tendons to contain conduction tissue and thus it is assumed to be intracavitary radiations of the bundle of His. This last consideration introduces new physical and electrophysiologic implications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Diagnostic endomyocardial biopsy findings in 160 consecutive patients: the Yugoslavian experience.

Percutaneous endomyocardial biopsy was performed for the diagnosis of various heart disorders in 160 consecutive patients in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Tissue specimens were taken from the left ventricle in 150 patients and from the right ventricule in 10. To determine the clinical merit of endomyocardial biopsy, patients were divided into six groups based upon the existing clinical findings, including cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, specific heart muscle disease, alcohol-induced heart disease, major dysrhythmias, and other diagnoses. The clinical value of endomyocardial biopsy was gauged by the number of diagnoses that were histologically confirmed by the procedure. We combined the percentages of histologically suspected clinical diagnoses with those of completely changed clinical diagnoses and found that endomyocardial biopsy provided useful information in 70.6% of cases. Nonspecific histological findings were found in 25.6% of cases. The biopsy proved to be of no clinical value in only 3.8% of the cases. Although some investigators still object to the overall clinical usefulness of diagnostic endomyocardial biopsy, our findings help to underscore the value of this procedure for making an accurate diagnosis.

Cardiomyopathies↗
PubMed1990

Assessment of neuron in congenital heart disease with heart failure.

Pathological studies in five hearts from patients with congenital heart diseases have demonstrated that the number of neurons is similar to that found in normal controls. The number of neurons has been counted in a strip of right atrial wall between the venae cavae. The hearts were selected from a wide spectrum of the population, the youngest being 5-months old and the oldest 35 years old (mean age: 12 years); all were in failure. The neuronal counts are comparable to those found in a normal population of mean age 40 years.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Age-associated changes in the number of neurons in the right atrium.

1. It has been demonstrated that chronotropic responses differ in healthy elderly subjects compared to those in younger normal adults. To evaluate the involvement of the autonomic nervous system, we determined the number of neurons in right atrial strips from six elderly individuals (aged 77 +/- 3.4 years) five of whom had died as the result of extracardiac causes, and from younger adult controls (aged 44.0 +/- 6.0 years) who had died in traffic accidents. 2. There was a significant reduction in the number of neurons of the group of hearts from the elderly (3587 +/- 445, mean +/- SEM) compared with the control group (6412 +/- 377) of five hearts from younger adults (P less than 0.001). 3. It is suggested that this decrease in the number of neurons contributes to the reduced chronotropic responses in the aged. The mechanisms responsible for the neuronal depopulation was not determined.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Anterior mesenchymal dysgenesis of the eye. Congenital hereditary endothelial dystrophy and congenital glaucoma.

The present report describes a patient with congenital glaucoma and iris hypoplasia who underwent repeated surgery to control the glaucoma. Despite these procedures, the patient's corneas opacified progressively, and bilateral penetrating keratoplasties were performed. Histopathological studies, including transmission and scanning electro microscopy of the corneal buttons, demonstrated specific changes of Descemet's membrane and the endothelium typical of congenital hereditary endothelial dystrophy (CHED). CHED has usually been considered to be a specific clinical entity that is not combined with congenital glaucoma or other significant abnormalities of the anterior segment of the eye. The present case indicates that these conditions may be combined, which is of importance when dealing with infants with congenital glaucoma and corneal opacities.

Anterior Chamber↗
PubMed1988

Heterologous antigenicity induced in human aortic homografts during preservation.

A series of rabbit experiments has been carried out to investigate the potential antigenicity of the heat-treated foetal calf serum which is commonly used to enhance viability of preserved aortic homograft valves. In all presensitised animals, the calf serum content of the nutrient medium which infiltrated the aortic wall during preservation provoked a heavy second-set reaction. It is concluded that heat-treated foetal calf serum is a potent heterologous antigen and should not be used for preserving human tissue selected for transplantation.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

The importance of membrane stabilization in protecting the developing rat myocardium from the actions of triac.

Administration of triiodothyroacetic acid (triac) to pregnant rats produces cardiac hypertrophy and myofibrillar disarray in the hearts of the newborn offspring. Previous experiments have shown that concurrent administration of dl exprenolol or dl or d propranolol prevent the disarray but not the hypertrophy, suggesting that membrane stabilization and not beta-adrenergic blockade may be responsible for modifying the actions of triac. In order to clarify this, further experiments have been carried out whereby timolol, a beta-blocking agent with minimal or no membrane stabilizing activity, and procainamide, a pure membrane stabilizing compound, have been administered with triac. Timolol had no effect, but procainamide reduced the level of disarray and the hypertrophy to a minor degree. The results have thus confirmed the proposal that membrane stabilization is of major importance in modifying the actions of triac.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

[Clinical, hemodynamic and morphologic findings in dilated cardiomyopathy].

45 patients (39 men, six women), mean 41 (19-63) years of age with clinical, angiographic and morphologic diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy were evaluated in respect of three morphologic classes. Two groups of patients without signs of previous myocarditis were formed, with one-to-two mitochondria per two sarcomeres (group Ia, n = 19), or with more than two mitochondria per two sarcomeres, respectively (group Ib, n = 14); and one group with signs of previous myocarditis (group II, n = 12). The mean relative mitochondrial volume fraction in relation to myofibril volume fraction was significantly lower in group Ia (33 +/- 4/67 +/- 4%) compared to group Ib (39 +/- 5/61 +/- 5%) (p less than 0.01). Mean values of group II (36 +/- 6/64 +/- 6%) were in between the two other groups. Left ventricular enddiastolic pressure (18 +/- 11, 18 +/- 8, 16 +/- 10 mm Hg), pulmonary vascular resistance (473 +/- 414, 406 +/- 205, 458 +/- 495 dyn x s x cm-5), ejection fraction (36 +/- 21, 32 +/- 16, 28 +/- 16%), endsystolic volume index (131 +/- 82, 127 +/- 66, 132 +/- 60 ml/m2), enddiastolic volume index (187 +/- 81, 176 +/- 62, 181 +/- 63 ml/m2), dp/dt max (1951 +/- 875, 1737 +/- 575, 1741 +/- 478 mmHg x s-1) and mean VCF (0.76 +/- 0.58, 0.44 +/- 0.32, 0.54 +/- 0.39 s-1) showed no significant differences between the three groups. Follow-up of the patients in the three groups to median 19, 22, 24 months, respectively, after biopsy, showed an improvement of the clinical findings, especially concerning the groups with one-to-two mitochondria only and with signs of previous myocarditis, but no difference in survival within the three groups. For the individual case our morphologic parameters seem to be without predictive value.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Deposits of eosinophil granule proteins in cardiac tissues of patients with eosinophilic endomyocardial disease.

Eosinophilic endomyocardial disease is a complication of the hypereosinophilic syndrome and of several other disorders associated with high blood eosinophil counts. Eosinophil granule proteins may be involved in the development of these lesions. This multi-centre study investigated whether these proteins could be demonstrated within the cardiac tissues of eighteen patients with eosinophilic endomyocardial disease. Serial sections of tissue taken at necropsy or at cardiac biopsy were stained for eosinophil major basic protein by indirect immunofluorescence and for eosinophil cationic protein, eosinophil protein-X, and activated eosinophils by means of alkaline-phosphatase-linked monoclonal antibodies. Activated eosinophils and secreted eosinophil granule proteins were most evident within the necrotic and later stage thrombotic lesions and were found mainly within the areas of acute tissue damage in the endocardium and in the walls of small blood vessels. These findings suggest that eosinophil granule proteins are involved in cardiac injury, producing muscle damage and vascular injury which lead to the development of endomyocardial fibrosis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1987

The role of Coxsackie B viruses in the pathogenesis of myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy and inflammatory muscle disease.

Coxsackie B viruses are members of the family Picornaviridae which have been associated by retrospective serology with a range of muscle diseases, particularly myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy and epidemic pleurodynia (epidemic myalgia or Bornholm disease). It has been proposed that virus-induced myocarditis disposes to the development of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. However, despite many attempts, isolation of infectious virus or immunofluorescent detection of virus-specific antigens in the affected tissue is rare, although virus may be found in faeces early in infection. This discrepancy awaited the development of nucleic acid probes to resolve the problem of whether virus was present consistently in myocardium or other muscle tissues. We report here the synthesis of Coxsackie B virus-specific complementary DNA (cDNA) probes and their use in molecular hybridizations to quantitative slot-blots of RNA prepared from either endomyocardial or skeletal muscle biopsy specimens. Of 50 patients with histologically proven myocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy, 28 (56%) had an endomyocardial biopsy specimen positive for the presence of Coxsackie B virus-specific RNA. Twenty-two patients with other cardiac diseases of known aetiology, unrelated to virus infection, were all negative. Multiple biopsies were obtained from 20 patients with myocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy and 15 of these (75%) had at least one biopsy specimen positive, indicating the focal nature of the disease. In analogous investigations, Coxsackie B virus-specific RNA was detected in four out of seven single skeletal muscle biopsy specimens from patients suffering from juvenile dermatomyositis, and one out of two patients with adult polymyositis. Ten muscle controls, either normal or Duchenne muscular dystrophy, were negative for virus RNA.

Cardiomyopathy, Dilated↗