'Wavy' myocardial fibers in spontaneous and experimental adrenergic cardiopathies.

Wavy myocardial fibers, especially when associated with focal edema, are a characteristic sign of acute myocardial ischemia. 'Waving' might be induced by the increased hydrostatic pressure of interstitial edema, which squeezes and stretches the neighboring fibers. Beside their regular occurrence in early myocardial infarcts, wavy myocardial fibers are also frequently encountered in cases of acute adrenergic heart injury, especially in fatal cranial trauma and after injection of high doses of catecholamines in experimental animals.