[54 cases of infectious endocarditis seen in 32 years in a population of 2038 congenital heart diseases]. / A propos de 54 cas d'endocardites infectieuses observées en 32 ans sur une population de 2,038 cardiopathies congénitales.

A longitudinal study of a 32-year period (1954-1987) involving 2038 patients with congenital heart defects followed by the same physician yielded 54 cases of infective endocarditis (IE). Complex cyanogenic cardiopathies were particularly exposed to the risk of infection (8.2 IE for 1000 patient-years), then came ventricular septal defects (2.4), tetralogy of Fallot (2.3), aortic stenosis (2.0) and atrioventricular canal (1.7). The risk was smaller in patients with Eisenmerger complex (1.2), persistent arterial canal (1.4) and coarctation (0.7). Patients under 10 years of age (16.7%) were less affected than young adults in the 20-29 years age-group (33.4%). The organisms most frequently isolated were streptococci (42%); staphylococci ranked second (23%). Less common organisms were found in 14% of the cases, and blood cultures were negative in 21%. Systemic prophylaxis with penicillin V, introduced 16 years ago, seems to have almost halved the incidence of infective endocarditis due to penicillin-sensitive organisms.

[Coronary arteries and their variations. An embryological explanation]. / Les artères coronaires et leurs variations. Une explication embryologique.

The main coronary arteries originate from three vascular circles: The atrioventricular circle, which forms the right coronary artery and the circumflex branch of the left coronary artery; the interampullary circle, which gives rise to the anterior and posterior descending coronary arteries; and the conotruncal circle, also known as the circle of Vieussens, which communicates with the lumen of the truncus arteriosus by way of the coronary ostia and which also anastomoses with the other two coronary arterial circles, thereby establishing the definitive coronary arterial circulation. A diagram facilitates an easy representation of the numerous variations of the coronary arteries that have been described.