[Liver pathology in myocardial infarct]

Abstract

Complex examinations of the state of the liver with the employment of biochemical and histochemical methods were conducted in 211 patients with myocardial infarction and in 69 dogs among which myocardial infarction was induced in 41. The examinations have demonstrated that in myocardial infarction protein, lipid, carbohydrates and pigment metabolism disorders develop in the liver, as well as those of the oxidative--reduction processes and the resulting changes in the liver structure. A comparison of the obtained data with the results of numerous investigations on the state of the liver in cases of various hypoxemic states indicates that in myocardial infarction the liver changes are predominantly determined by the developing hypoxia of the organ. This is due to the decreasing contractile capacity of the myocardium, to the involvement of the hepatic vessels into the atherosclerotic process, the microcirculation disturbances, the development of proliferative and sclerotic changes in the hepatic vessels. Of certain importance are also the general neurohumoral changes developing in the body during myocardial infarction, such as an excess of catecholamines in the blood.