Histopathological Findings of Cardiac Conduction System of Korean / 대한법의학회지

ABSTRACT

One hundred and thirty three heart specimens were collected from the cases submitted fo autopsy in the Department of Forensic Medicine in the Central District Office of National Institute of Scientific Investigation in January 2003-March 2004 and April-November 2005. The cardiac conduction system(CCS) of these heart were examined in order to find out histopathological changes in the CCS of Korean people and their forensic pathological significance. There were 98 males and 35 females. Almost all age groups were included. The results revealed that in the most of the people the fibrosis and fatty infiltration in the CCS increased with aging. The pathologic findings that may be causing arrhythmia, include 10 cases of severe narrowing of the sinoatrial(SA) or atrioventricular(AV) artery by fibromuscular hyperplasia(FMH), 9 cases of anomalous conduction fibers arising from atrioventriular node or His bundle, 5 cases of focal myocarditis of CCS were identified in this study. The authors concluded that routine examination of the CCS is helpful for revealing disease of the CCS and improving the quality of forensic pathologic diagnosis.