Analysis of ionic ratios in the interventricular wall and their relation with cardiac damage as seen in anatomo-pathological and cardiac biomarkers.

UNLABELLED: In the present work, we have compared the behaviour of some commonly used markers for the immunohistochemical diagnosis of cardiac suffering (myoglobin, myosin, troponin I), with the modifications of the ionic quotients (K(+)/Na(+), Ca(2+)/Mg(2+) and Ca(2+)/Zn(2+)) that are observed in the interventricular partition in different causes of death.

MATERIALS AND METHOD: we have studied a total of 50 hearts coming from autopsies carried out in the Legal Medicine Institute of Murcia (Spain) deceased 21 by natural cardiac deaths, 9 by mechanical asphyxias, 5 by politraumatism, 5 cardiac ruptures and 10 by craneoencephalic trauma. For the biochemical analysis, samples were taken from weave of 0.5 g of the interventricular partition, the corresponding dilutions were made in bidistilled water for flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry with a hollow cathode multielement lamp. For the immunohistochemical study, samples were taken from the same locations, kept in tamponed formol, dyed with hematoxylin-eosin and later 3 microm-sections were practised, antigenic recovery by heat, in pressure cooker. Our results show the existence of a statistically significant relation between the modifications of the K(+)/Na(+) quotient and the found values of troponin, which confirms its utility for the precocious diagnosis of the cardiac ischemia.