Estimates of the collagen concentration in human ventricles have been made from measurements of the hydroxyproline concentration. In the normal heart the concentration of collagen was higher in the right ventricle than in the left ventricle. Age had no effect on the ventricular concentration of collagen. Hypertrophy in the absence of a valvar lesion was not associated with an increased concentration of collagen but, owing to the increased size of the ventricle, there was an increase in the estimated total mass of ventricular collagen. The concentration of collagen in the left ventricle of patients with aortic stenosis was higher than normal. Ventricular hypertrophy seems to be accompanied by an increase in the total mass of collagen whatever the cause. Whether the concentration changes or not depends on the proportion in which the mass of collagen increases relative to the mass of muscle cells.

Right ventricular hypertrophy induced by hypobaric conditions was accompanied by an increased collagen mass. Left ventricular collagen was unaffected. Right ventricular mass remained unchanged after involution of right ventricular hypertrophy on return to normobaric conditions. Dietary restriction limited the size and collagen mass of both ventricles.

No abstract