ENDOCARDIAL fibroelastosis or endocardial sclerosis until recently has been looked upon as a pathologic diagnosis.1 With the growing interest in this condition, attempts have been made to define this as a clinical entity and one which in many cases can be diagnosed ante mortem.2
The postmortem findings of endocardial fibroelastosis have been described in infants from 3 days to 5 years of age; the majority of the deaths have been of infants between 4 and 9 months. Generally speaking, three clinical patterns have been noted, characterized best by their course: (1) sudden death occurring 24 to 48 hours after the onset of symptoms of respiratory distress; (2) prolonged progressive increase in dyspnea, anorexia, irritability, occasional vomiting, cardiac failure, and death; (3) repeated episodes of respiratory distress and cardiac failure which respond well to oxygen and digitalis and which may last months or even years.
The purpose of this