Endomyocardial fibrosis. Problems in differential diagnosis

The clinical and angiographic findings in 5 consecutive patients with congestive cardiac failure are presented to illustrate the pitfalls in the clinical diagnosis of endomyocardial fibrosis. In one patient the clinical diagnosis was confirmed at angiography while another patient who had angiographic evidence of early right ventricular endomyocardial fibrosis was diagnosed clinically as mitral stenosis. In 2 patients the clinical diagnosis was erroneous, there being no evidence of endomyocardial fibrosis on angiography. The fifth patient, who had angiographic evidence of idiopathic cardiomegaly, was diagnosed clinically as either idiopathic cardiomegaly or advanced left ventricular endomyocardial fibrosis. In tropical countries, where endomyocardial fibrosis, rheumatic heart disease, and idiopathic cardiomegaly are common, accurate clinical diagnosis of endomyocardial fibrosis is often difficult and angiographic studies are essential for confirmation.