Foamy myocardial transformation of infancy: an inherited disease.

Five cases of foamy myocardial transformation of infancy, a condition which predominantly affects female children under 2 years of age and which causes cardiac arrhythmia or sudden death, are reported. Of these five cases, four occurred in two sets of siblings, suggesting a possible hereditary basis for the disease. As far as we know, no other familial cases have been reported. The other case was of focal disease of the myocardium, as opposed to the diffuse myocardial changes seen in the four familial cases.