Idiopathic Cardiac Enlargement Occurring in Infants and Children

CONGENITAL idiopathic cardiac hypertrophy is a term which has been used to designate cardiac enlargement occurring in infants and young children with no demonstrable etiology. As more attention is given to this group of cases it becomes apparent that those which are truly idiopathic constitute a small minority. S. Van Creveld 2 and others have shown that many cases of cardiac enlargement thought to be idiopathic are Von Gierke's disease, or " hepatomegalia glycogenica, " in which there is glycogen infiltration of the heart, liver, and kidneys. Cardiac enlargement has also been shown to occur in the primary anemias of childhood, particularly in sickle cell anemia. According to Kugel and Stoloff 7 some have attempted to explain cardiac hypertrophy and dilatation on the basis of so-called status thymicolymphati-cus. Kugel9 divides cardiac enlargement of infancy into eight main groups: congenital defects, infections, anemias of long standing, non-suppurative myocardial degeneration, metabolic disorders, hypertension, tumors, and finally the unclassified. Vitamin Bx deficiency has recently13 been shown to