IN 1950, Giustra and Nilsson1 reported a case of myocarditis following measles in a child of 5½ years of age. Examination of the heart presented varied and serious disorders of cardiac rhythm, consisting of bizarre arrhythmias, supraventricular tachycardias, and conduction blocks. These attacks occurred frequently during a three-year observation, necessitating hospitalization and quinidine therapy. The pattern of each attack was similar, being ushered in by severe intermittent abdominal pain followed by vomiting, the presence of tachycardia, and enlargement of the liver. The acute attacks were relieved by intravenous quinidine therapy. However, three years following the initial observation, the child died during a convulsive seizure which accompanied an attack of tachycardia.
The autopsy findings relating to the heart were interesting and worthy of comment. They revealed a generalized subendocardial sclerosis and focal fibrosis in the left bundle branch. The dilatation and hypertrophy of the heart was more pronounced on the