Background: Excessive lengthening of cardiac myocytes attributed to series addition of
sarcomeres is a consistent feature of left ventricular dilation in chronic heart failure.
Currently, it is not feasible to assess myocyte dimensions, particularly myocyte length, in a
manner that is of potential diagnostic usefulness. Methods and Results: Isolated myocytes
from three groups of normal rats (100, 200, and 300 g) were obtained by using two different
methods:(1) digestion of formalin-fixed myocardial tissue using potassium hydroxide (KOH) …