[Histoenzymological characteristics of the myocardium in sudden cardiac death].

Histochemical study of enzymatic activity in the myocardium was performed in sudden cardiac death. Human hearts in which there were no macroscopic and histological focal or diffuse changes served as material. The following enzymes were studied in the anterior or posterior walls of the left ventricle or in the interventricular septum: succinate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), beta-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (OHBDH), alpha-glycerophosphate- and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, NAD-diaphorase and phosphorylase. Increased activity of OHBDH and LDH was found: 36,0 and 22,6% higher than in trauma and brain hemorrhage that served as control. These alterations seem to be connected with the increase of blood content of fatty acids, and lactate as a response to the catecholamine excess. Foci of an acute ischemia were found in the interventricular septum in 80% of cases in which phosphorylase was revealed. The appearance of the ischemic foci was obviously due to the coronary arteries contraction.