Myxedema Heart: A Pathological and Therapeutic Study

THIS report presents the autopsy findings in a patient dying of heart failure due to myxedema and points out the similarity of her myocardial lesions to those found in the beriberi heart. The case history of another patient with myxedema heart treated with thiamin and vitamin B complex and then with thyroid extract is reviewed. The clinical syndrome of heart failure sometimes associated with hypo-thyroidism (myxedema heart) was first described by Zondek 1 in 1918. It was later recognized in this country by Fahr 2 and has since been discussed by many investigators.3 Hallock 4 showed that the cardiac output of the myx-edema heart was low and that it was increased by the administration of thyroid extract. Descriptions of the pathological changes in the heart muscle are few and controversial. Schultz 5 described the pathological findings in a 12 year old girl with congenital athyrosis who died from myxedema heart failure. The heart was generally dilated, the muscle pale, and a normal amount of pericardial fluid