THE ADOLESCENT HEART

Abstract

In recent years the study of heart disease has received an enormous impetus, and a keen interest in it has been shown by the laity as well as by the members of the medical profession. Most of the statistics and reports have to do with organic heart disease, and little, if any, attention has been given to the normal adolescent heart. Our interest in the adolescent heart was aroused by our experiences in the center for the diagnosis of heart disease of the Yale Street Clinic. Many times children were referred to us with a diagnosis of heart disease which was based on disturbances in rhythm, murmurs or subjective symptoms. Frequently a single examination was sufficient to differentiate between functional and organic heart disease, but occasionally repeated examinations over a period of years were necessary before a definite conclusion could be reached. It therefore became particularly obvious that the family