Familial occurrence of endocardial fibroelastosis in three siblings, including identical twins.
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Endomyocardial fibroelastosis is a rare disorder marked by characteristic morphological changes of the endocardium. We report a case of endomyocardial fibroelastosis diagnosed by late gadolinium-enhanced CMR and confirmed by endomyocardial biopsy. The patient improved following treatment with imatinib.
An 18-year-old female Japanese patient who suffered from heart failure and severe pulmonary hypertension was referred to our clinic. The etiology of her cardiomyopathy was unclear. Inhaled prostacyclin therapy resulted in an improvement of pulmonary arterial pressure and allowed us to avoid lung transplantation. Heart transplantation resulted in a complete remission of her respiratory function. Autopsies of the explanted heart revealed massive endomyocardial fibroelastosis. We concluded that endomyocardial fibroelastosis has to be considered a cause of heart failure in young adults with unclear cardiomyopathy.
A diagnosis of fibroelastosis was made in a 33-week-old fetus, based on the echocardiographic features of a marked impairment of left ventricular contractility and hyperechogenicity of the endocardium. Fibroelastosis was associated with an aortic stenosis. There was no evidence of hydrops fetalis. Prenatal detection of this severe congenital heart disease allowed its early management in an intensive care unit. Heart failure due to closure of the ductus required the use of prostaglandin, then a surgical aortic valvulotomy was performed. There was no postoperative problem, and one year after surgery the infant is doing well. His left ventricular contractility is normal, and echocardiographic features of fibroelastosis are no more present. Prenatal diagnosis, use of prostaglandin and increasing safety of neonatal cardiac surgery have improved the prognosis of this serious association.
Among 111 infants with coarctation of the aorta, fibroelastosis of the left ventricular endocardium was found in 14 cases comprising 12.6%. Such a combination usually caused an extremely poor state of the patients and served as an indication for surgery. A resection of the coarctation of the aorta in cases of fibroelastosis provides for a significant reduction of the workload on the left ventricular myocardium, for an improvement of the patient's state permitting to survive the critical first three years of life. The problems of intravital diagnosis of fibroelastosis in patients with coarctation of the aorta are presented, the importance of chronic ischaemia of the left ventricle in the development of fibroelastosis is emphasized. The details of surgical tactics and postoperative care of such patients are discussed.
An autopsy was performed on a female stillborn infant with generalized edema associated with ascites. On gross examination of the heart the pulmonary trunk was atretic from its origin of the heart to the bifurcation. The ductus arteriosus was abnormally wide. The right ventricle was hypoplastic and its endocardium was diffusely thickened. The inner surface of right ventricle appeared pale, obscuring the identification of trabeculae corneae and papillary muscles. At the posterior wall there was an extremely thin lesion where no apparnet cardiac muscle was contained. The tricuspid orifice was stenotic and the valve was hypoplactic. The right atrium was markedly enlarged and its wall was thickened. The foramen avale had patency of the valvular competent type. Atrial septal defect (ASD) was not present. The left ventricle was remarkably dilated with markedly thick wall. Ventricular septal defect (VSD) was present immediately beneath the right coronary cusp of the aortic valve. Light microscopic examination of the right ventricle revealed a marked increase of collagen and elastic fibers with extensive deposits of calcium not only in the endocardium but also in the deep portion of myocardium. Fibroelastosis appeared particularly prominent in the subendocardial layer. The muscle fibers surrounded by these penetrating fibers and deposits of calcium showed degeneration. The entire myocardial layer of the specific area in the right ventricle where the wall was paper-thin was fully replaced by fibers and calcium. Inflammatory cell infiltration was found only at some places of the pericardium. The left ventricular wall also showed fibroelastosis, although the degree of involvement was much less as compared to that seen in the right ventricle. There were no significant pathological changes in both atria.
We report a pedigree in which six males died of cardiac failure within the first eight months of life. These males were related through healthy females, as with X linked recessive inheritance. There was no consanguinity. None of the affected boys had an anatomical cardiac abnormality. In two affected brothers, histological evidence for endomyocardial fibroelastosis was documented, and in one of these electron microscopy demonstrated abnormalities of the mitochondria as found in mitochondrial cytopathy. A review of published reports revealed five similar X linked pedigrees, and in two of these mitochondrial abnormalities were found. We suggest that these families may show an X linked recessive cardiomyopathy with mitochondrial abnormalities.
EFE is a rare cardiac disorder with poor prognosis and uncertain cause. Primary and secondary forms have been described. Most authors consider that all EFE is secondary--a reactive process set off in the endocardium by stress on the myocardium. We report two cases representing the primary dilated form and the secondary contracted form. The dilated form was associated with intracavitary thrombus of the left ventricle. In both cases, an unusual presence of subendocardial calcifications was noted. The ultrasonographic findings are discussed.
Two children with congenital fibroelastosis and recurrent episodes of heart failure had overt proteinuria and hematuria; one also had a reversible nephrotic syndrome. Urinary manifestations persisted during periods of cardiac compensation. Renal biopsies revealed mesangial hyperplasia by light microscopy, identical ultrastructural lesions in the glomerular basement membrane, and deposits of fibrin in one of the biopsy specimens studied by immunofluorscence. These changes detected by electron microscopy may result in an increase in glomerular permeability independent of the renal hemodynamic disturbances associated with cardiac insufficiency. The progression of the lesions appears to be slow, although urinary manifestations may simulate an intercurrent glomerulonephritis. Pulmonary hypertension and renal venous stasis with glomerular intravascular coagulation were discussed as possible pathogenic mechanisms.
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Two genes have been identified for the X-linked forms (dystrophin and tafazzin), while mutations in multiple genes cause autosomal dominant DCM. Muscle LIM protein (MLP) is a member of the cysteine-rich protein (CRP) family and has been implicated in both myogenesis and sarcomere assembly. In the latter role, it binds zyxin and alpha-actinin, both of which are involved in actin organization. An MLP-deficient mouse has been described; these mice develop dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Based upon these data, and the recent descriptions of mutations in MLP in patients with DCM or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, we screened patients for mutations in the MLP and alpha-actinin-2 genes. We identified a patient with DCM and EFE, having a mutation in MLP with the residue lysine 69 substituted by arginine (K69R). This is within a highly conserved region adjacent to the first LIM domain involved in alpha-actinin binding. Analysis in cell culture systems demonstrated that the mutation abolishes the interaction between MLP and alpha-actinin-2 and the cellular localization of MLP was altered. In another individual with DCM, a W4R mutation was identified. However, this mutation did not segregate with disease in this family. In another patient with DCM, a Q9R mutation was identified in alpha-actinin-2. This mutation also disrupted the interaction with MLP and appeared to inhibit alpha-actinin function in cultured cells, in respect to the nuclear localization of actinin and the initiation of cellular differentiation.
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We report on 2 children, brother and sister, who presented with cardiomyopathy and muscular hypotonia at the age of B months. They both excreted significant amounts of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaric acid (3-HMG) and 3-methylglutaconic acid (3-MGC) but no 3-methylglutaric acid (3-MG). Enzyme analysis in fibroblasts revealed normal activities of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) lyase and of 3-methylglutaconyl hydratase and other enzymes of 3-HMG metabolism. Loading tests with leucine did not affect the excretion of 3-HMG and 3-MGC. The girl died as a result of her cardiomyopathy, while the boy recovered and was treated with cardiac supportive therapy. He showed a steady improvement during his clinical course with biochemical normalization of the urinary excretion of 3-HMG, concomitant with marked improvement in the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In cultured fibroblasts from both patients a reduced activity of complex II/III of the respiratory chain was measured which may be the cause of this new type of 3-HMG uria. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA heart muscle, liver and fibroblast culture of the patient did not reveal any major mitochondrial DNA rearrangements (deletion, duplication) or any point mutation that had been described in association with mitochondrial cardiomyopathy.
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An investigational orthotopic cardiac transplantation was performed to manage subendocardial fibroelastosis in a neonate. No unmanageable technical complications arose from the transplantation. Postoperative observation showed the infant developed normally except for moderate cerebral palsy.
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