[Pathologic anatomy of cor pulmonale. Results of autopsies]

Abstract

In a Zurich autopsy study comprising 7947 adults (over 20-year-olds), cor pulmonale was diagnosed in 8.9% (709 cases). In more than half of the cases the cor pulmonale was caused by lung diseases associated with chronic bronchitis and emphysema or with fibrosis of the lung. In 7 cases recurrent thromboembolism was the sole cause of cor pulmonale, whereas in 103 cases additional lung diseases were involved. 7 cases could be attributed to primary pulmonary hypertension. Cor pulmonale is, as a rule, the result of multiple lung conditions. The lesions of pulmonary vessels in cor pulmonale are produced either by parenchymatous lung changes (such as pneumoconiosis, sarcoidosis, etc.) or by pulmonary hypertension.