Cardiovascular Pathology : the Official Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology

A case of a 40-year-old male patient with a right subclavian artery aneurysm of fibromuscular dysplasia origin is reported. The patient presented with thoracic outlet-like symptoms and underwent aneurysm resection. Microscopic examination revealed intimal and medial fibroplasia. Additional cases of fibromuscular dysplasia at this rare location are reviewed, indicating a male and right-sided predominance. The most frequent clinicopathological manifestation was an aneurysm, with the histopathological pattern characterized by medial fibroplasia...

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most frequent congenital heart disease, with an incidence of approximately 1%. It can be silent and associated with normal valve function. However, a series of complications, even catastrophic, may occur with time: valve incompetence, valve stenosis by dystrophic calcification, infective endocarditis, progressive dilatation of the ascending aorta, aortic dissection, sudden death. The problem of BAV is not just about the number of semilunar cusps, but also the aortic wall. Severe noninflammatory degenerative changes (elastic fiber fragmentation, smooth muscle cells death, mucoid extracellular matrix accumulation=MEMA) are observed in the aortic wall of BAV patients, with intrinsic weakness accounting for progressive aneurysmal dilatation of the ascending aorta, valve incompetence, and wall dissection...

BACKGROUND: The cardiac conduction system (CCS) creates and propagates electrical signals generating the heartbeat. This study aimed to assess the collagen content, vasculature, and innervation in the human sinoatrial and atrioventricular CCS, and surrounding tissue. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten sinoatrial and 17 atrioventricular CCS samples were collected from 17 adult human autopsied hearts. Masson trichrome stain was used to examine collagen, cardiomyocytes, and fat proportions...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Primary malignant cardiac tumors are rare and usually misdiagnosed because they can mimic more common intracardiac lesions, therefore, in clinical practice it is important to always consider even uncommon diseases in order to avoid delayed diagnosis and to plan the most appropriate therapeutic strategy in a timely fashion. We report a case of a 73-year-old man with clinical signs and imaging findings (echocardiography) suggesting infective bacterial endocarditis of the mitral valve. However, intraoperative evaluation raised suspicion that the mitral lesions had a different nature...

A 28-year-old male was found dead in his bedroom. There were no anomalies in his birth and medical history, and there was no family history of sudden unexpected death (SUD). Autopsy showed subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) with basilar top inflammatory pseudoaneurysm rupture accompanied by fibrinoid necrosis in the aneurysm wall. Active and healed arteritides in small- to medium-sized arteries were identified in the brain, heart, and systemic connective tissue, which was consistent with polyarteritis nodosa (PAN)...

Carney syndrome is an autosomal dominant complex involving endocrinopathy, mucocutaneous hyperpigmentation, and different tumors, including cardiac myxomas. We report on a single family with several members affected with Carney syndrome. Family and individual medical histories were investigated in several Canadian provinces. The histology slides were also reviewed. Four family members (two young women, both sisters, their mother, and maternal grandmother) were found to harbor Carney syndrome. Everyone presented with multiple and recurrent atrial myxomas of the heart, requiring multiple open cardiac surgeries...

BACKGROUND: This study aims to develop a fetal rat model of ventricular non-compaction (NVM) using streptozotocin (STZ)-induced gestational hyperglycemia and compare it with a retinoic acid (RA) model. METHODS: Female SD rats were categorized into STZ, RA, and normal control (NC) groups. The STZ group was given a high-fat diet pre-pregnancy and 35 mg/kg of 2% STZ post-pregnancy. The RA group received a 90 mg/kg dose of RA on day 13 post-pregnancy. Embryonic myocardial morphology was analyzed through HE staining, and embryonic cardiomyocyte ultrastructures were studied using electron microscopy...

BACKGROUND: myocardial adaptation to severe aortic stenosis (AS) is a complex process that involves myocardial fibrosis (MF) beyond cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Perfusion impairment is believed to be involved in myocardial remodeling in chronic pressure overload. AIM: to describe morphological and ultrastructural myocardial changes at endomyocardial tissue sampling, possibly reflecting subendocardial ischemia, in a group of patients with severe AS referred to surgical aortic valve replacement (AVR), with no previous history of ischemic cardiomyopathy...

Lambl excrescences (LEs) were initially described in the mid 1800s during autopsies of human hearts, and their significance and biology have been debated ever since. LEs are typically found on aortic and pulmonary valve (semilunar) cusps. There is debate concerning whether LEs are a significant cause of thromboembolic events, or whether they are harmless growths. However, there have not been many reports discussing LEs, and fewer still that have examined the prevalence and characteristics of LEs in healthy human hearts...

In the field of heart transplantation, the ability to accurately and promptly diagnose cardiac allograft rejection is crucial. This comprehensive review explores the transformative role of digital pathology and computational pathology, especially through machine learning, in this critical domain. These methodologies harness large datasets to extract subtle patterns and valuable information that extend beyond human perceptual capabilities, potentially enhancing diagnostic outcomes. Current research indicates that these computer-based systems could offer accuracy and performance matching, or even exceeding, that of expert pathologists, thereby introducing more objectivity and reducing observer variability...

Primary cardiac tumors are uncommon clinical entities with an incidence of 0.0017% to 0.03% of all autopsies. Cystic tumor of the atrioventricular node (CTAVN) comprises of 2.7% of cardiac tumors causing sudden death associated with complete heart block. CTAVN is a congenital benign cystic and solid mass located in the triangle of Koch in atrioventricular nodal region of the heart. It has been described from infancy to adulthood, most often as an incidental finding at autopsy, but has been not yet described in fetuses...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: We previously showed that growth differentiation factor 5 (GDF5) limits infarct expansion post-myocardial infarction (MI). We now examine the acute post-MI role of GDF5 in cardiac rupture. METHODS AND RESULTS: Following permanent ligation of the left anterior descending artery, GDF5 deficiency (i.e. GDF5 knockout mice) reduced the incidence of cardiac rupture (4/24 vs. 17/24; P<0.05), and improved survival over 28-d compared to wild-type (WT) mice (79% vs...

Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPSII) is a progressive lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the IDS gene, that leads to iduronate 2-sulfatase (IDS) enzyme deficiency. The enzyme catalyzes the first step of degradation of two glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), heparan sulfate (HS) and dermatan sulfate (DS). The consequences of MPSII are progressively harmful and can lead to death by cardiac failure. The aim of this study was to characterize the cardiovascular disease in MPSII mice. Thus, we evaluated the cardiovascular function of MPSII male mice at 6, 8 and 10 months of age, through functional, histological, and biochemical analyzes...

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common systemic vasculitis in adults in Europe and North America, typically involving the extra-cranial branches of the carotid arteries and the thoracic aorta. Despite advances in non-invasive imaging, temporal artery biopsy (TAB) remains the gold standard for establishing a GCA diagnosis. The processing of TAB depends largely on individual institutional protocol, and the interpretation and reporting practices vary among pathologists. To address this lack of uniformity, the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology formed a committee tasked with establishing consensus guidelines for the processing, interpretation, and reporting of TAB specimens, based on the existing literature...

Primary myocardial fibrosis (PMF), defined as myocardial fibrosis in the absence of identifiable causes, may represent a common alternative phenotype in various cardiomyopathies and contribute to sudden cardiac death (SCD). No previous definitions of histopathological characteristics exist for PMF. We aimed to evaluate whether common features of fibrosis could be identified. PMF cases (n = 28) were selected from the FinGesture cohort consisting of 5,869 SCD victims that underwent a medicolegal autopsy...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Data from histopathology studies of human atherosclerotic tissue specimens and from vascular imaging studies support the concept that the local arterial microenvironment of a stable atheroma promotes destabilizing conditions that result in the transition to an unstable atheroma. Destabilization is characterized by several different plaque phenotypes that cause major clinical events such as acute coronary syndrome and cerebrovascular strokes. There are several rupture-associated phenotypes causing thrombotic vascular occlusion including simple fibrous cap rupture of an atheroma, fibrous cap rupture at site of previous rupture-and-repair of an atheroma, and nodular calcification with rupture...

In recent years, there has been an explosive growth of research to decipher the pathobiologic relevance of cell death in the development and progression of various cardiovascular disorders such as arterial remodeling and atherosclerosis. High rates of cell death have been reported in animal models, particularly following balloon catheter injury. Also, in humans there is considerable evidence indicating a close connection between cell death and atherosclerosis. In this regard, diverse biochemical and molecular analysis have suggested that intraplaque cells preferentially die by apoptosis, a mode of cell death considered to be active, highly regulated and programmed...