[Fatal emboligenic ulcerative endomyocardial fibrosis in filariasis]

A man of 54 had been treated over a 15 month period for pulmonary tuberculosis when aged 41, and had lived on the Ivory Coast and then in the Cameroons for 20 years. Eye signs were discovered in January 1971, and these, together with an eosinophilia, pointed to a possible filariasis which was later confirmed by immunofluorescence and the fixation of complement. Three months later, the patient developed congestive cardiac failure. On the 4th day of treatment with Notizine, multiple systemic emboli occurred, leading to death. Autopsy showed endomyocardial fibrosis with multiple ulceration of the left ventricle, the site of the emboli. The aetiology from filariasis and the mechanism of ulceration of the parietal endocarditis are discussed.