[Electron microscopic study of the nervous apparatus of the sinoatrial region of the human heart in alcoholic cardiomyopathy].

The EM study of the nerve components of the sinus node, adjacent contractile myocardium and nerve ganglions has been performed in 9 suddenly deceased males with alcoholic cardiomyopathy. A quantitative evaluation of the innervation density in the myocardium is given. Destructive changes were observed in the myelinized the non-myelinized nerve fibers of both conductive and contractile myocardium as well as in adjacent to the node nervous ganglions and their neurocytes and glia. Possible causes of the ultrastructural pathology in the sinoauricular region of the heart are discussed.