[The microcirculatory bed of the human myocardium in sudden cardiac death].

A ventricular capillary bed was studied in 30 hearts of humans upon sudden cardiac death according to modified technique of Karnovsky-Roots. A 10-80% narrowing of coronary artery lumen was found due to formation of atherosclerotic plaques. The assessment of butyrylcholinesterase activity in myocardial sections proved helpful in providing the appearance of microcirculation from small arterioles to venules. Determination of volumetric density of microvessels suggested an inverse correlation between the degree of stenosis of major coronary arterial branches and volumetric density of ventricular capillaries in the heart.