Cardiac autopsy findings

Posted By mdy,r.n. on February 19, 1999 at 12:12:59:







Dear Physician:
My husband recently died due to cardiac arrest.  As an organ donor, he had an autopsy that revealed large areas of ischemic cardiac tissue.  Two weeks before he had an echo that only revealed a small area of ischemia due to a previous MI.  Also, he had a cath which did not show any additional ischemia.  Was all of this "new" ischemia due to the fatal event?  Is it possible to differentiate between newly infarcted and older ischemic tissue?  
Many thanks,
MDY, R.N.