Abstract
Endocardial thrombus, occurring predominantly in the left ventricle, is a common complication of myocardial infarction, and despite the widespread use of anticoagulants is still frequently observed at post-mortem. In the auricles mural thrombi are less frequently related to infarcted muscle and here there is a common association with auricular fibrillation and mitral stenosis. Paul Wood
lists as additional causes of mural thrombi congestive heart failure, bacterial endocarditis and Fiedlers myocarditis. From the other side of the Atlantic Paul White adds coronary artery disease without infarction, hypertensive heart disease, aortic valvular disease, congenital heart disease and cor pulmonale.
In this thesis an attempt is made to establish the frequency and significance of endocardial thrombosis, and in particular to consider its relationship to a group of cases in which endocardial thrombosis and fibrosis are the only distinguishing features of heart failure of unknown aetiology.