[Histochemical study of the enzyme activity of the myocardium of sudden death victims with postinfarct cardiosclerosis].

Quantitative histochemical assays of several enzymes (succinic, lactic, beta-hydroxybutyrate, alpha-glycerophosphate, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenases, NAD diaphorase, and phosphorylase) in the myocardium of persons who had died suddenly with postinfarctional cardiosclerosis have failed to reveal any changes specific for this patient group. Direct correlations were established between the enzyme activities assayed, on the one hand, and the extent of myocardial hypertrophy and the signs of chronic heart failure, on the other. The activities of beta-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, which are involved in fatty acid utilization and in the pentose phosphate pathway, were elevated in cases of moderate hypertrophy, as were those of all redox enzymes in cases of strongly marked hypertrophy, although they were reduced in cases with signs of chronic cardiac failure despite the presence of considerable myocardial hypertrophy. Areas of acute myocardial ischemia were discovered in 45% of the cases.