[Association of an epsilon wave and syncope].

Background: Epsilon waves, rarely observed in clinical practice, result from late potentials favoring the development of ventricular rhythm disorders by reentry.

Case Report: A 53-year-old man with sequellar myocardial infarction experienced a syncope. The surface ECG recorded an epsilon wave.

[Should Doppler echography in the diagnosis of the extra-cardiac sites of atherosclerosis be routine in patients with coronary disease? Apropos of 248 cases].

Doppler ultrasound investigation of cervical and aorto-iliac arteries, performed in 248 patients investigated by coronary angiography (including 80% with coronary heart disease: 23% single-vessel, 23% two-vessel and 34% three-vessel disease) confirmed the frequency of dissemination of the atheromatous process (in the cervical vessels: non-stenotic atheroma: 45%, significant single- or multi-vessel stenoses: 16%, in the aorto-iliac vessels: non-stenotic atheroma: 32.8%, significant stenoses: 17.2%), which has been known for a long time.

[Repair of post-infarction interventricular communication in a 81-year-old patient].

Post-infarction interventricular fistula (IVF) is a complication with a poor prognosis, particularly when it occurs very early after myocardial necrosis, when it is wide in diameter and even more so if it is at a posterior site, and if there are associated lesions which require surgery. An operation is often considered as contraindicated in cases where the patient is elderly. The authors report on the case of an 81-year-old diabetic patient operated for a wide post-infarctus posterior IVF and aorto-coronary artery bypass surgery.

[Prospective etiologic survey on apparently primary nonobstructive myocardiopathies in adults. 57 cases, excluding ischemic cardiopathies].

A prospective study into the aetiology of presumed primary non-obstructive cardiomyopathy was carried out in 57 patients who had no lesions of the trunk of the coronary artery; one case of haemochromatosis and one of amyloidosis were found. Excluding these two cases of cardiomyopathy which were in fact secondary, most of the others were associated with manifestations or with complications of myocardial diseases (two pulmonary emboli and one case of jaundice) or pathology associated with it. Investigation into possible infection, biochemical abnormalities and dietary indiscretion (alcohol, colza oil), were unfruitful.