Endocardial fibroelastosis. Clinico-pathological study of 38 cases.

A clinico-pathological study was carried out based on 38 autopsies of patients with endocardial fibroelastosis ( EFE ): 82% of the cases were below the age of one year. The primary EFE was established in 21 (55%) of the cases, and in the last 17 (44%) it was associated with different congenital heart malformations (secondary EFE ). Different pathological conditions during pregnancy were present in 24% of the cases. Most often the left ventricle and atrium were involved, but in most of the cases the endocardium of the right cardiac chambers appeared by histological examination to be also affected. The varying morphological pictures of the heart suggest that EFE is a reaction of endocardium to different damaging factors.