A definite diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease was established after necropsy in the case reported. The occurrence of rheumatic heart disease in infancy and the prominent familial rheumatic taint appeared worthy of note.
The child was 12½ months old on admission. A review of the literature shows that reports of such cases with autopsy in patients of this age are rare. Schroeder1 reported a case in a patient aged 20 months: Denzer2 reported two cases in patients aged 23 months and 2 years, respectively, with mitral stenosis, which he said was of at least four, and probably of six, months' duration. Paul D. White3 reported the condition in a patient 16½ months of age. Holt4 in a series of 1.000 postmortem examinations found no subject under 3 years of age with endocarditis. Among 687 patients, Coombs5 saw none under 3 years of age. Ingerman and