Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula with cerebral arteriovenous malformation without hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Unusual case report and literature review.

An unusual and rare case of a central pulmonary arteriovenous fistula (PAVF) with concomitant cerebral arteriovenous malformation (CAVM) in the absence of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia is reported. Presentation was in the form of a cerebrovascular accident (CVA). Clinical presentations and management strategies of PAVF with associated CAVM are broadly discussed along with a pertinent literature review.

Surgical treatment for chronic constrictive pericarditis.

One hundred and twelve patients were operated for constrictive pericarditis from December 1963 through May 1987 at J.J. Group of Hospitals, Bombay. All the patients had haemodynamically significant pericardial constriction preoperatively, and pericardial disease was confirmed at operation. Preoperatively, the patients were either in NYHA class III (96 cases), or class IV (16 cases). All the patients had ascites and/or peripheral oedema with an enlarged liver. Pericardiectomy was performed through a left anterior thoracotomy (92 cases), or median sternotomy (20 cases). There was an early mortality (deaths occurring within 30 days of operation) in 21 cases (18.75%). Early mortality was related to preoperative disability of the patients. Post-operatively, NYHA classification of patients at six months after operation showed improvement in functional class with 80 patients in either class I or II and 6 patients in class III.