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Diagnosis of the acute ischaemic heart by ion elution from myocardium
Author(s) -
Reid W. A.,
Brown D.,
Purves D.,
Barnes I.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.1711670208
Subject(s) - potassium , sodium , cardiology , ischemia , elution , medicine , efflux , chemistry , chromatography , biochemistry , organic chemistry
The post‐mortem diagnosis of acute myocardial ischaemia may be difficult to establish in the absence of morphological changes in the myocardium or recent coronary thrombosis. Ischaemic cell injury leads to potassium (K) efflux and sodium (Na) influx and, if the blood is still circulating, the K : Na ratio of the tissue falls. In this study, the K : Na ratio was measured by eluting the ions from samples of myocardium and assaying the eluate. The method yields similar results to those obtained by a previous method, in which myocardial samples were homogenized. The K : Na ratios on samples of horizontal slices through the heart were plotted on maps of the slices. A low K : Na ratio corresponded to, but extended beyond, areas where there was morphological evidence of ischaemia. The method is simple and may be of use in routine practice.