Myocardial morphometry of protein-energy malnourished adults

PURPOSE: To compare cardiac muscle cells width and cardiomyocyte lipofuscin pigment presence between malnourished and non-malnourished necropsied adults. METHODS: Out of 315 necropsy protocols of adults randomly chosen, those with edema, ascitis, systemic arterial hypertension, chronic liver disease, and heart disease were excluded. Malnutrition was defined by body mass index (BMI) <17kg/m². Cardiomyocytes morphometry study and lipofuscin pigment counts were performed. RESULTS: Malnourished (n=8) and controls (n=4), respectively, showed statistical differences in relation to BMI (14.86±1.13 vs 22.02±0.9kg/m²), heart weight/body weight ratio (0.68±0.09 vs 0.54±0.07%), cardiomyocytes width (10.91±0.77 vs 12.90±1.82µm) and lipofuscin pigment presence (39.1 vs 54.4%). CONCLUSION: When compared with controls, necropsied malnourished adults showed decreased myocardial fibers diameters and lower lipofuscin pigment presence. These findings might reflect altered metabolism, and would be associated with harmful clinical effects in terminally ill patients.