[Changes in the cardiometric parameters in ischemic heart disease].

Study of planimetric and weight indices of individual parts of the heart in 55 males (average age 51.2 +/- 2.7 years) who died of the first or repeated (primarily early) myocardial infarction has revealed the appearance (prior to the first major coronary event) of compensatory myocardial hypertrophy of all parts of the heart. Even in cases of the first infarction it was followed by dilatation of all cardiac chambers. Moreover, myocardial dilatation was exceeded by hypertrophy in all parts of the heart except left ventricle where both processes were found to be of the same extent. In the repeated myocardial infarction group, further increase of hypertrophy and dilatation was noted in the left parts of the heart only. In the ventricle both processes were of a similar degree while hypertrophy was prevalent in the atrium. The hypertrophy and dilatation of individual parts of the heart could be used for more accurate diagnosis--both clinical and postmortem--of early phases of ischemic heart disease and for the assessment of the heart pumping state.