THE HEART IN HAeMOCHROMATOSIS

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to give a brief account of present-day knowledge of the effects of haemochromatosis upon the heart after which we shall describe two cases of the disease in which cardiac involvement was a prominent feature stimulating our interest in this subject. The involve- ment of the heart in hkmochromatosis is well known. Infiltration of hemosiderin varies from wedge-shaped deposits at the nuclear poles of the muscle fibres to the extreme degree in which the fibres may be replaced by a mass of pigment granules contained within the muscle sheath. HLmosiderin may also be found in the connective tissue, lying free in the lymph spaces, or within fibro- blasts and mononuclear cells. An increase of fibrous tissue has been considered to be rare.