In Goldblatt rats, electron microscopic investigations of morphological changes in heart tissue during the compensatroy stage of pressure induced cardiac hypertrophy were performed. Myocardial cellular size enlarged considerably within the first 4 weeks after renal artery coarctation. An enlargement of the T-tubular system is particularly striking. The ratio of myofibril volume to total cell volume is significantly increased from the 4th-24th week and can at least partially explain a rise in developed tension which occurs in spite of a frequent disarrangement of myofibrils. In later stages severe changes in the vessel walls take place and there is an augmentation of connective tissue which impairs a correlation between myocardial cell alterations and mechanical parameters.