Myroshnychenko M. Pathological anatomy of the heart in intrauterine growth retardation.

The work investigates the morphofunctional features of the heart in the symmetric and asymmetric variants of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). The factors that promote development of IUGR are analyzed. The morphological research of the heart of fetuses and newborns with IUGR in various periods of gestation was conducted. In children with IUGR marked deficiency of body weight, Ketle index, weight of the heart, thickness of the wall of ventricles of the heart, microscopic changes in stroma and parenchyma of the heart (non-uniformly expressed striation, wavy deformation, fragmentation of muscular fibres with the signs of necrosis, contractive changes of cardiomyocytes, intracellular myocytolysis, granular destruction of myofibrils, fatty degeneration, disturbance of blood circulation; sclerotic changes; high activity of the apoptotic processes; endothelial dysfunction). The degree of expression of the changes in the heart depended on the localization, variant of the IUGR, periods of gestation. In children with asIUGR more pronounced changes were found. The degree of expression of the changes in the heart increased with the extension of periods of gestation.