Ruptured Chorda Tendinea - Myxoid Degeneration
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This micrograph shows a chorda tendinea which splits into two chordae toward the top of the image. The dense fibrous tissue (yellow in the Movat stain) is infiltrated by mucopolysaccharide / proteoglycan material (green). A rupture site is indicated by the arrows. It shows a devitalized zone of the chorda (compare conspicuous numbers of spindle shaped fibroblasts in the core of the chorda vs. the lack of spindle cells toward the rupture site). In addition the surface of the corda at the rupture site is distinctly frayed. There is no evidence of vegetation material or inflammatory cell infiltrate.
