Exudative pericarditis in sarcoidosis. A case report and echocardiographic study.

Involvement of the pericardium in sarcoidosis is infrequent as earlier reported. The involvement may be accompanied by pericardial effusion. We report the case of a 43 year-old man with non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy for almost two decades who developed an effusion in the pericardial sac.

Effort dyspnea after coronary bypass surgery.

One hundred consecutive patients were followed up for 6-36 months after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS) for angina pectoris. Of the 98 survivors, 35 reported effort angina. Of the 63 angina-free patients, nine (14%), also had to interrupt ordinary activities such as walking upstairs/uphill, though now because of dyspnea.

The Björk-Shiley 70 degree convexo-concave prosthesis strut fracture problem (present state of information).

Between June 1980 and June 1983 4028 Björk-Shiley 70 degree convexo-concave prosthetic heart valves were distributed and implanted in Australia, Canada, Europe and South Africa. As of March 1986, a total of 52 outlet strut fractures (1.29%; 70% CL: 1.

Subacute rupture of the free left ventricular wall following acute myocardial infarction. Report of an atypical case with successful surgical repair.

In previously published cases of subacute or sealed postinfarction rupture of the free left ventricular wall, the patients presented a clinical picture of sudden shock and tamponade. Our patient, a 64-year-old man, suffered renewed chest pain on the fourth postinfarction day and went into cardiogenic shock, which was pharmacologically reversible. There were no bed-side signs of tamponade and the ECG showed the pattern of acute pericarditis, both features in contrast to previously reported cases in the literature.

Ergonovine testing in patients with exertional angina.

Injection of ergonovine has been suggested as a diagnostic test in patients with suspicion of a vasospastic component in the pathophysiology of angina pectoris. However, a thorough case history has been considered by others to give the same information regarding the anginal mechanism. Therefore a bedside ergonovine test (0.