Cardiovascular Collagenosis with Parietal Endocardial Thrombosis

Abstract

Forty cases of endocardial thrombosis of the heart were selected for pathologic study from a total of 9,500 autopsies performed during 1936 to 1951. Widespread focal involvement of the connective tissue throughout the body and particularly in the heart was demonstrated. Although the histopathologic features were similar to those found in the "diffuse collagen diseases" they did not show the characteristic lesions of rheumatic fever, periarteritis nodosa, lupus erythematosus or diffuse scleroderma. The clinical presentation of a rapidly progressive heart failure, together with the pathologic findings, were sufficiently distinctive to consider this condition as a cardiovascular collagenosis with parietal thrombosis. A similar condition has been described under a variety of names and would appear to constitute a large proportion of cases of so-called "idiopathic hypertrophy" or "myocarditis" of the heart.