De Subitaneis Mortibus

Abstract

Special studies of the heart were conducted at necropsy of two young soldiers who had died suddenly and unexpectedly. In the first case there was extensive myocarditis, an atretic main left coronary artery, special large interarterial anastomoses including the sinus node artery, old fibrosis in the His bundle and recent hemorrhages in the internodal pathways. In the second case there was a markedly narrowed atrioventricular (A-V) node artery with disruptive fibrosis of the left and right bundle branches, and lacunar faults in the central fibrous body near the A-V node. These dissimilar findings are discussed relative to the pathophysiological basis of sudden death.