MYOCARDITIS IN BRONCHIECTASIS

Abstract

Inflammatory disease of the lung is not commonly associated with myocarditis. White¹ remarked that pneumonia, either lobar or bronchial, may prove a great strain on an already weakened or diseased heart but that it does not itself cause serious heart disease except in rare circumstances. In a general study of 240 cases² of myocarditis the disease was found to be associated with lobar pneumonia 7 times and with bronchopneumonia 19 times. If one considers the frequency of pneumonia, these figures are not high. However, in pursuing the study of myocarditis it was noted that myocarditis was associated relatively more frequently with bronchiectasis than with uncomplicated pneumonia. This was the more noteworthy since the relevant literature barely mentions myocarditis in relation to bronchiectasis. Because myocarditis associated with bronchiectasis has been given little attention, it was considered of interest to bring forward certain facts gleaned from a study of the