Fatal pancarditis in a patient with coexistent Lyme disease and babesiosis. Demonstration of spirochetes in the myocardium.

A 66-year-old man developed fever, chills, myalgias, three erythematous skin lesions, and transient left eyelid lag. Because of persistent fever, he was hospitalized 4 weeks after the onset of disease; a peripheral blood smear showed Babesia microti in 3% of his erythrocytes. Eighteen hours later, he died unexpectedly. Autopsy showed pancarditis with a diffuse lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate, and spirochetes were found in the myocardium. Antibody titers to both the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti were elevated. The finding of spirochetes in the myocardium and the elevated antibody titers to Borrelia burgdorferi suggest that the patient died from cardiac involvement of Lyme disease.

Human babesiosis on Nantucket Island. Clinical features.

Between 20 July and 15 Octoboer 1975, five cases of human infection with Babesia microti were diagnosed on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. The illness was characterized by fever, drenching sweats, shaking chills, myalgia, arthralgia, extreme fatigue, and a mild-to-moderate hemolytic anemia. None of the patients had a history of splenetomy. Although all patients responded symptomatically to treatment with oral chloroquine phosphate, parasitemia and fatigue frequently persisted for several weeks to months.

The Waterston anastomosis with no deaths in the neonate.

The Waterston anastomosis has been performed with no deaths in 11 consecutive neonates during the past 24 months. Seven neonates had pulmonary atresia with either single ventricle or hypoplastic right ventricle, 3 had tetralogy of Fallot, and one had severe pulmonary stenosis with a normal right ventricle. Six neonates were one day old and only one was older than 7 days. All have obtained symptomatic and documented (increase Po2) benefit. This level of success is attributed to (1) minimal delay between the recognition of cyanosis and operation (mean time between hospital admission and catheterization was 3 hours and between catheterization and operation, 4 hours); (2) correction of any base deficit prior to, during, and after operation; (3) accurate construction of the anastomosis to avoid excessive size, and (4) careful postoperative management of the pulmonary subsystem by experienced personnel. We have demonstrated that the high mortality rate previously reported for the Waterston anastomosis in the neonate can be markedly improved by an appropriate patient management program.

Long-term survival following aortic valve replacement.

Study was made of 95 survivors of aortic valve replacement during the early years of this procedure (1964 to 1970). The average follow-up time was 50.2 months. Survival was not related to hemodynamic parameters, such as cardiac index or left ventricular pressure, and did not appear to be influenced by the type of preoperative valve lesion. A history of angina pectoris and a New York Heart Association Class IV grouping were associated with shorter survival. Associated coronary artery disease was a leading cause of death in those patients surviving less than 2 years and angina pectoris the leading cause of morbidity in the long-term survivors. Sudden death occurred in five patients. Once a patient survived 36 months after the operation, the prognosis was excellent.