THE NATURAL HISTORY OF IDIOPATHIC CARDIOMEGALY
| Autor: | Gerald E. Muehsam, Joseph E Scerbo, Franz Pschibul |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1964 |
| Předmět: |
Heart Failure
Pediatrics medicine.medical_specialty medicine.diagnostic_test Heart disease business.industry Physiology Black People Autopsy Physical examination Cardiomegaly medicine.disease Coronary artery disease Natural history Heart failure Etiology Pathology Medicine Humans Heart enlargement Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine business Cardiomyopathies |
| Zdroj: | American heart journal. 67 |
| ISSN: | 0002-8703 |
| Popis: | T he entity of idiopathic hypertrophy of the heart has aroused increasing interest in recent years, and much speculation has arisen with regard to its etiology. Many factors have been suggested, but whether this is essentially a congenital defect or whether it is an acquired disease has never been clearly established, since little is known about the state of these hearts prior to overt heart failure. The majority of reports and reviews on the subject are vague as to the onset of cardiomegaly, primarily because this specific information is difficult to obtain. Since this knowledge, that is, whether these patients had always had cardiomegaly or whether they acquired it later in life, appears to be an important void in our understanding of this condition, an attempt was made to investigate it. Cases studied at a Veterans Administration Hospital are ideally suited for this purpose, because all patients, in order to qualify for admission to a Veterans Administration institution, must, at one time or another, have successfully passed an Armed Forces Physical Examination; thus, previous health records, including data concerning chest x-ray films, are available. The purpose of this communication, therefore, is to establish some evidence in regard to the natural history of idiopathic hypertrophy of the heart, prior to the onset of overt heart failure. No attempt is made to review the clinical course of this condition after the onset of symptomatic heart disease, since this has already been done in a number of excellent and detailed publications.r-8 Only autopsy-proved cases were included in this series, and, specifically, only those in which the total heart weight was over 500 grams, and in which there was no evidence of coronary artery disease or abnormality, myocardial fibrosis or infarction, or valvular alteration. Similarly, a history of significant or permanent hypertension, rheumatic and other carditis caused exclusion. Cases which at autopsy showed extensive endocardial fibrosis, thus suggesting the diagnosis of fibroelastosis, were also eliminated from the series. As a result of this rather strict selection, only 11 cases were admitted to this study, from an autopsy experience of 10 years at the Veterans Administration Hospital, East Orange, New Jersey. After review of the autopsy and clinical findings, the Veterans Administration claims folders of these patients were studied. These included, in all instances, the original induction and discharge physical examinations, as well as a statement in regard to the chest x-ray films taken at those times. Unfortunately, the actual x-ray films were not available in enough |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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