MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION AND ISCHAEMIC HEART DISEASE IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN - ANALYSIS OF 29 CASES AND REVIEW OF LETERATURE

Twenty-nine infants and children with postmortem findings of myocardial infarction or ischaemic heart disease were retrospectively studied to obtain information regarding the prevalence, aetiology, and clinical description of this entity. The material was divided into five groups according to aetiology. Emboli led to myocardial infarction in 8 patients, inflammatory disease of the coronary arteries in 9, and degenerative disease of the coronary arteries in 3. Anomalies of the coronary arteries led to myocardial infarction changes in 4 patients, and functional disturbances of the coronary circulation created ischaemic changes in 5. These patients and a review of the literature suggest that myocardial infarction in infants and children is by no means rare; it presents an extremely variable clinical picture, and also suggests that diagnosis can be made by electrocardiography. Necropsies were performed at the First Institute of Pathology (Director, Professor B. Bednář), at the Department of the Faculty of Paediatrics (Director, Professor D. BeneŠová), and at the Second Institute of Pathology (Director, Professor V. Jedlička). Their skill and industry which enabled the collection of this material is acknowledged with gratitude. The review was completed during the author's tenure in 1964 in the Department of Pediatrics of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Harriet Lane Service of the Johns Hopkins Children's Medical and Surgical Center.