Variants of cardiomyopathic heart pathomorphogenesis. comparison of echocardiographic and endomyocardial biopsy findings.

The main variants of cardiomyopathies (undifferentiated, dilatational, hypertrophic, and restrictive) were distinguished using a complex pathomorphological analysis of 600 cardiomyopathic hearts detected in 5000 autopsies after cardiovascular death. The main pathomorphological diagnostic criteria for each variant were defined. High diagnostic value of lifetime echocardiographic diagnosis in comparison with myocardial biopsy was shown. The informative value of endomyocardial biopsy in cardiomyopathic heart is higher, if the method is combined with clinical examinations, noninvasive and invasive studies.