1971 Volume 12 Issue 3 Pages 305-315
Three cases of idiopathic cardiomegaly in the aged (64, 82 and 73 years old) were presented. All of them were male and had the common finding of cardiac enlargement of unknown etiology, terminating in refractory heart failure. They showed hypertrophy and degeneration of the myocardium with a peculiar accumulation of focal myocardial fibrosis and endocardial fibroelastosis in the posterior wall of the left ventricle. Overdosage of norepinephrine (Case 1), positive serologic test for syphilis (Case 2) and associated mitral insufficiency (Case 3) might give some modifications to the original myocardial disease. A study of the conduction system revealed degenerative changes similar to the myocardium, which caused the left bundle branch block in Case 2.
