[Characteristics of myocardial hypertrophy in arterial hypertension of various origins and in atherosclerosis].

Sets of conventional macroscopic and up-to-date histochemical techniques were employed to study hearts from 267 patients who had died of essential hypertension, atherosclerosis or secondary renal hypertension. Excessive cardiac mass was found disease-specific and related to the time since hypertension onset. Cardiac hypertrophy was augmenting with growing deficiency of coronary blood supply and showed specific correlation between cardiomyocyte nucleus and cytoplasm within each nosological unit mentioned. This may serve evidence for the absence of a common morphofunctional underground for this process. Essential hypertension is characterized by stepwise nuclear changes in cardiomyocytes relevant to advancing hypertrophy.