Left atrial dilatation in constrictive pericarditis: a pre and post-operative echocardiographic study.

Thirty-three surgically proven cases of constrictive pericarditis were studied pre-operatively by echocardiography for left atrial dilatation and 18 of them underwent post-operative study at a mean follow-up period of 229 +/- 105 days. The degree of left atrial dilatation in these patients was compared with patients of restrictive cardiomyopathy (n = 8) and sex matched controls of similar age (n = 33). Significant left atrial dilatation was present in patients of constrictive pericarditis compared to controls and it was of a similar or greater degree compared to patients of restrictive cardiomyopathy (the left atrium to aorta ratio was 1.

Neonatal brucellosis.

Three Arab children with neonatal brucellosis are described. The first presented with late neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia, the second with a septicoemia-like picture and the third was born prematurely and presented with respiratory distress. The diagnosis of brucellosis was based on a positive blood culture and on a high or rising titre of antibodies to the Brucella organism.