[Tropical endomyocardial fibrosis or Davies disease. A case report]

Endomyocardial fibrosis is a restrictive endomyocardial myocardiopathy of unclear etiology, it is an endemic disease in tropical and subtropical countries. The patients are usually young and the disease has an insidious onset and poor prognosis. Surgery may lead to clinical improvement and prolong life expectancy, although it is only a palliative treatment and does not stop disease progression. We present a case of endomyocardial fibrosis from Equatorial Guinea with severe clinical involvement and clear improvement following surgery. The current etiopathogenic hypothesis, the results obtained and the management of these cases, which are infrequent in Spain, are discussed. We also comment upon the differences with the historically related Loeffler syndrome according to one of the etiopathogenic hypotheses.