Endomyocardial Biopsy

Abstract

Endomyocardial biopsy was performed in a series of 25 patients to evaluate the usefulness, reliability and possible complications of the method. All the cases underwent complete cardiac catheterization and cardiac performance was determined immediately before and after. Examples of the microscopical and ultrastructural findings in the specimens are given. No primary or late complications could be noted either in this series of patients or in 59 additional biopsies performed. The advantages of this method are discussed in connection with a survey of other myocardial biopsy methods. Apart from diagnostic purposes, endomyocardial biopsy seems to be useful in other instances. Examples thereof are discussed together with a case report as an illustration.