Myocardial Lesions Resulting from Dietary Deficiency *

In 1937, Schrader, Prickett, and Salmon3 reported that rats fed on a diet low in potassium exhibited extensive pathologic changes in the intestine, pancreas, kidneys, and heart. Prior to this, Miller2 had reported that rats fed on a low potassium diet were abnormally "alert" and that growth was slow; Leulier and Vanhems' found that their animals survived only 12 to 24 days and did not grow. The present investigation was stimulated by an interest in the myocardial lesions demonstrated in the animals which were investigated by Schrader and his co-workers. The diet described by these workers consisted of extracted grain mixture, extracted casein, a salt mixture, and added vitamin B in the form of a fuller's earth adsorbate of brewer's yeast extract. This latter, according to their statement, had no significant effect on weight or length of life. The diet was not analyzed for potassium content.