Table 2.

Summary of pathological findings in three groups.

	Control	CHF	DCM
Histological findings
Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy	−	±	+
Cardiomyocyte elongation	−	±	+
Nuclear pleomorphism	−	±	+
Diffuse interstitial fibrosis	−	±	+
Myofibrillar loss	−	±	+
Myofibrillar disarray	−	−	−
Vacuolization	−	−	−
Granulomas	−	−	−
Inflammatory cell infiltration	−	−	−
Immunohistochemical findings of N-cadherin staining
Reduction of stainability	−	−	+
ICD widening	−	±	+
ICD scattering	−	−	+

Pathological and immunohistochemical findings from the control, CHF, and DCM groups are summarized in this table. Deterioration of N-cadherin immunostaining was defined as a reduction in immunostaining relative to the control group. Moreover, ICD widening was defined as a width of 4 µm or more, and ICD scattering as 15 µm or more. The meanings of the symbols used in this table are as follows: (−): This finding is absent in most cases. (±): This finding is present in some cases. (+): This finding is present in most cases.

CHF chronic heart failure, DCM dilated cardiomyopathy, ICD intercalated disc.