[Sudden cardiac death in acromegaly. Anatomopathological observation of a case].

Abstract

Involvement of the cardiovascular system in patients affected by acromegaly is an important factor in morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis in these subjects is acromegalic cardiomyopathy with cardiac decompensation, arrhythmias and sudden death. The pathologic substrate has rarely been described. The present study reports the findings in a case of sudden death in a 54-year-old man, affected by acromegaly. Subsequent diagnostic investigation revealed the characteristic aspects of acromegalic cardiomyopathy in the common myocardium and the presence of hyperacute myocardial infarct of the antero-septal wall of the left ventricle. Examination of conduction tissue revealed slight fibrolipomatosis and dispersion of the atrio-ventricular node (AVN), which extended to the His bundle and bifurcation. The right branch was prematurely intramural with sclerosis and lipomatosis. This location in atrio-ventricular conduction system has seldom been reported in the literature and if so, with different lesions from those found in the case we investigated. The results of microscopic examination convalidate the hypothesis of electrical instability in the heart, as confirmed by the subject's history of ventricular extrasystoles, left branch block and attacks of angina after effort. Death was correlated to hyperacute myocardial infarction of the anteroseptal wall of the left ventricle, in a subject with history of angina, affected by acromegalic cardiomegaly and electric instability. In this case, sudden death could also be considered arrhythmogenic in relation to the additional workload by persistent hormonal stimulation.