Familial Cardiomyopathy

Abstract

A family of cardiomyopathy including 1 case of postmortem study was reported. The autopsied findings of similar cases reported in Japan were reviewed and compared with our cases. It was found that pathological findings of all reported cases fell into the third type characterized by the hypertrophy of myocardial fibers with diffuse fibrosis according to Barry and Hall's classification. Coagulation defect, probably due to circulating anticoagulant, was noticed in 1 case; it returned normal after a short course of steroid therapy. The presence of anti-heart antibody and type specific antibody against beta-hemolytic streptococci was shown in some of our cases, and the role of immunological abnormalities as a possible etiological factor was discussed. © 1971, International Heart Journal Association. All rights reserved.