[Papillary muscle infarction: echocardiographic features and genetic factors].

To study the pathogenesis of papillary muscle infarction, its echocardiographic features were examined in 60 patients with old inferior infarction. Sixty-three healthy elderly persons served as the controls. 1. The papillary muscles were echocardiographically classified as fingerlike and non-fingerlike in configuration whose frequencies were 43% and 57%, respectively. In healthy subjects, the papillary muscles were less echogenic than the left ventricular wall. 2. In five patients, the posteromedial papillary muscle exhibited enhanced echo intensity and no contraction. The papillary muscles in two of these five patients were histologically examined and the diagnosis of papillary muscle infarction was verified. In these five patients, the papillary muscles were echocardiographically classified as fingerlike, and left ventricular infarction was observed to involve the attachment of the posteromedial papillary muscle. All five patients had mitral valve prolapse; posterior in four and anterior in one. Inferior infarction extended to the region just beneath the mitral annulus in the former four patients, but not in the latter one. 3. The echocardiographic features of papillary muscle infarction consisted of enhanced echo intensity of the papillary muscle and mitral valve prolapse, especially that of the posterior leaflet at the posteromedial commissural side, and extension of the asynergy region to the attachment portion of the papillary muscle. The fingerlike morphology of the papillary muscle and involvement of the attachment within the infarcted region are predispositions to the development of papillary muscle infarction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)