This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (8)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Andrew Kerr, Jr., MD

Arch Intern Med. 1967;119(6):617-619.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

RECENTLY, 14 white male patients were admitted to this hospital with myocardial failure accompanied by pericardial effusion. The favorite beverage of each was beer.

We had not previously encountered pericardial effusion in "alcoholic myocardopathy."^1,2 The large globular heart shadow seen on x-ray film in myocardopathies suggests pericardial fluid,^2-4 but its presence has been rarely documented.^3,4 It is the purpose of this report to emphasize this feature which was present in 14 patients. These men presented a slightly different picture from others with myocardopathy.^5,6

The patients, mostly middle-aged, usually lived alone, ate sporadically, often worked as part-time bartenders, and admitted to drinking or were reputed to drink beer continuously during the waking hours.

Edema was frequently massive, and often preceded dyspnea. The latter was gradual in onset and often did not prompt hospitalization until it was very distressing and orthopnea intervened. A plethoric, cyanotic appearance was common. Neck veins were markedly . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Batavia, NY

From the Cardiopulmonary Laboratory, Veterans Administration Hospital, Batavia, NY.

Footnotes
Received for publication Sept 9, 1966; accepted Feb 10, 1967.

Reprint requests to Veterans Administration Hospital, Batavia, NY 14021 (Dr. Kerr).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?