A FAMILIAL HEART DISEASE

Abstract

The description of familial cardiomegaly by Evans (1949) has thrown some light on the group of patients in whom cardiac enlargement, for which there appears to be no adequate clinical explanation, is the main physical finding. The purpose of this paper is to describe a family showing evidence of a cardiac abnormality affecting five of nine siblings and one of their children. When the first member of the family was seen and the history considered, familial cardiomegaly was regarded as the prob- able diagnosis. However, the results of post-mortem examinations on two sisters were traced and it seems that the condition, though related to this, includes some degree of subaortic stenosis. CASE REPORTS Case 1. Woman, aged 40 years. She complained of some shortness of breath for the last six years while going quickly upstairs or uphill but this had not become any worse. During the same period she had noticed palpitation which always started and stopped abruptly and lasted for only a few minutes. These attacks occurred two or three times a week and would often. awaken her at night. There was no history of rheumatic fever or chorea.