[Right-left auricular shunt caused by patent foramen ovale at a multi-purpose intensive care unit. Apropos of 3 cases].

Three cases of symptomatic right-to-left interatrial shunt through a patent foramen ovale were detected in the course of a case of paradoxical embolism related to a massive pulmonary embolism, a case of refractory hypoxemia after cardiopulmonary bypass and a case of refractory hypoxemia in a patient with tricuspid endocarditis. According to anatomic studies, the incidence of patent foramen ovale is 25-30% in healthy people. In that case any pathological event generating an increase in the right atrial pressure higher than the left atrial pressure may induce a right-to-left shunt with systemic arterial desaturation and possible paradoxical embolization.

[Transesophageal stimulation in the treatment of atrial flutter and tachysystole. Factor influencing immediate results].

The effectiveness and safety of transoesophageal atrial pacing in the treatment of atrial flutter and tachycardia have been well demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that could influence the results of this method at the end of the procedure. Seventy-seven transoesophageal atrial pacings were performed in 62 unselected consecutive patients with either flutter or atrial tachycardia.

[Tolerance and prognostic value of Thallium 201 myocardial tomoscintigraphy with dipyridamole in the aged subject].

The authors present a retrospective study of 46 consecutive patients aged from 70 to 79 years (mean 73.3 +/- 2.5 years) with suspected coronary artery disease who, being unfit for exercise tests, were explored by myocardial scintigraphy with thallium 201 after coronary dilatation with intravenous dipyridamole.

[Coronarography in the study of myxoma. Apropos of a case diagnosed by this technic].

In a 59 years old woman presenting a rudimentary picture of myocardial infarction, ventriculograms confirm a limited necrosis and coronarography shows an abnormal vascular image, evoking an intracardiac tumor, while the arteries are free of atherosclerosis or thrombosis on angiography. Although auscultation and echography are normal, the diagnosis of myxoma will be confirmed by angiocardiography, then by surgery and pathology. The advantage of selective coronary angiography in myxomas is considered with 24 cases from the literature having undergone this examination, including 20 cases, among which ours, which present an aspect of "tumoral vascularisation".

[Unruptured aneurysms of the sinus of Valsalva disclosed by syncopal disorders of cardiac excitability. Apropos of 2 cases].

Aneurysms of the sinus of Valsalva are rarely diagnosed before rupture into the cardiac cavities which usually leads to the appearance of a continuous murmur and cardiac failure. In the two cases described, the presenting symptom of the aneurysm was syncope due to cardiac hyperexcitability: ventricular tachycardia in the first and paroxysmal tachyarrhythmia in the second case. The presenting symptoms of unruptured aneurysms of the sinus of Valsalva were analysed.