Ultrastructural morphometric analysis of human myocardial left ventricles with mitral insufficiency. A comparison with normally loaded and hypertrophied human left ventricles.

15 biopsies of dilated and hypertrophied human left ventricles in mitral insufficient hearts were morphometrically investigated. On light and electron microscopical level the results were compared with those received from normally loaded human left ventricles and from hypertrophied human left ventricles found in hearts with aortic valve disease. The results demonstrate alterations when compared with the results from normally loaded left ventricles. The differences between normally loaded and volume loaded left ventricles are smaller than those in pressure loaded left ventricles from aortic valve diseased hearts.