Cardiac Iron Overload

General: Iron deposition in the myocardium. Although hemochromatosis may be associated with systolic dysfunction and functional improvement with phlebotomy, the correlation between myocardial iron and dysfunction is reportedly weak. Drawing conclusions based solely on the presence or absence of myocardial iron should be done with caution and following a review of current literature.

Myocardial iron deposition may be secondary to any of a number of conditions/causes:

• Hemochromatosis
• Thalassemia
• Multiple red-cell Transfusion
• Hemolytic anemia

Gross:

Microscopic: Myocytes and interstitial macrophages with abundant intracellular coarse brown pigment. Must be distinguished from lipofuscin pigment, which has a different etiology.

Differential Diagnosis:

• Lipofuscin

Stains:

• Positive: Prussian blue
• Negative:
• Suggested, focused panel:

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Images:


Cases:

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