The vectorcardiograms of 60 adult patients with established CVH mainly due to acquired heart diseases were analyzed. The study showed that there were essentially 3 characteristic QRS loop patterns for CVH. In approximately one-fourth of the whole patients, a diagnosis of CVH could be made on the proposed vectorcardiographic criteria. It was found that the vectorcardiographic criteria of CVH in infants and children with ventricular septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus were also applicable to that of adult patients with CVH due to a variety of heart diseases provided some modifications of the vectorcardiographic criteria were made.

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The role of heavy drinking as a cause of cardiac abnormality was studied in 436 male registrates to a health assessment program for actively working adult people. This group of subjects as a whole was also taken as a sample of nonhospital population, and the incidence of heavy drinker in it was compared to that in 47 male patients with nonobstructive primary cardiomyopathy seen in a cardiology clinic.
In the 246 uncomplicated "health assessment" registrates, daily drinking of more than 125ml of ethanol was associated with a significantly increased incidence of cardiomegaly. Moderate drinking (75 to 125ml of ethanol) was associated with a high incidence of sinus tachycardia and premature contractions, but not with cardiomegaly. Daily drinking, even in less amount, was apparently significant as a cofactor causing cardiomegaly, when associated with hypertension.
The incidence of heavy drinker was significantly higher in cases with, than in cases without, cardiomegaly among the uncomplicated "health assessment" registrates. It was also higher in male patients with primary nonobstructive cardiomyopathy than in the total nonhospital population.
From these and previously collected data, a drinking habit equal to, or more than 125ml of ethanol daily, for 10 years or longer, was suggested as a criterion for diagnosis of clinically significant alcoholic cardiomyopathy.
Specific association of chronic hypertension or atherosclerotic vascular disease with heavy drinking was not shown, and the mechanism by which ethanol induces the cardiomyopathy was not made clear.

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New polygraph was especially designed for selecting the arbitrary phases in a cardiac cycle at where the corresponding radiograms should be synchronously exposed.
Then, a unit was established in which such polygraph, power injector, Xray generator, and film changer cooperate each other. The radiography based on these 2 fundamental mechanisms is tentatively called phaseselective radiography (PSR) in this paper.
In the present study, the selection of the phases in this manner was carried out successively only at arbitrary 1 or 2 places (A or A and B) in a cardiac cycle because of mechanical limitations.
Furthermore, since these selected phases are accompanied by the delay circuits (0-8 pulse counts) respectively, 45 pairs of contrast radiograms can be theoretically demonstrable for each of clinical purposes.In addition, test recording prior to actual execution was sufficiently available to obtain accurate determination of the phase required.
Meanwhile, application of Sakura isodensity recorder was of usefulness in delineation of differences in density on Xray film and its salient feature was to show the same silhouette as original profile being different from the conventional curve presentation.

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The echogram of the pulmonary valve was recorded in 11 normal subjects and in 70 patients with various underlying disease. On the routine examination, the detection of the pulmonary valve was about 20%, but the aimed study disclosed the valve more frequently. The technique was described in detail. The anterior wall of the pulmonary artery is located 1 to 2cm from the chest wall, and the posterior wall has wide and dense echoes. Ultrasound cardiotomography disclosed the lateral aspect of the left atrium behind the posterior wall. The pulmonary valve echo was generally weak and the left cusp was detected as a distinct echo, which moves posteriorly during systole. The echo was easily detected in cases with pulmonary hypertension, in which the anterior cusp was also depicted easily. The recording site was not so restricted in such cases. The pulmonary hypertension made the echo strong during both in systole and diastole, and gave the pattern of midsystolic semiclosure and diastolic plateau.

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In order to analyse the mechanism of the positive inotropic effect on the myocardium of cardiac glycosides, the author studied on the timed localization and distribution in the rat myocardial cells of the glycosides by means of electron microscopic autoradiography.
Since most part of the glycosides may be lost from the tissues during the process of fixation and dehydration, the methods were studied. The radioactivity in the tissue was measured by the oxygen combustion method. Little part of the glycosides was lost when the tissues were fixed with glutaraldehyde and osmium tetraoxide, and then dehydrated with acetone series.
By this method the author found most silver grains distributed in the transverse system (T system), the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the sarcolemma. This may suggest that the glycosides act upon the membraneous component.

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By employing electrographic electrodes, suction electrodes and microelectrodes, 2 conduction pathways were discovered in the anteromedial portion and in the posteromedial portion along the AV ring at the lower margin of the left atrium in the isolated rabbit heart. They were found to conduct the left atrial impulses to the right atrium and separately through the AV node to the ventricle. The one in the posteromedial portion was found to be different from the inferior interatrial pathway reported recently by Scherlag et al. Histological examination after functional studies revealed that each pathway was embedded in the fibrofatty tissues at the site of the attachment of the mitral valve to the left atrium. The anterior pathway encircled the anterior portion of the mitral ring and entered the anterosuperior portion of the AV node. The posterior pathway encircled the posterior portion of the mitral ring and entered the posteroinferior portion of the AV node. They can be regarded as interatrial pathways and in a sense as accessory AV conduction pathways from the left atrium.

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Clonidine or Catapres at a dose of 5μg/Kg was administered intravenously to spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) at 16 weeks of age under pentobarbital anesthesia. The mean arterial pressure was lowered from 138±4mm Hg (mean±SEM, n=6) to 100±5 and the heart rate from 350±9/min to 299±14. The mean discharge rate of vasoconstrictor fibers of the splanchnic nerve estimated by cutting and stimulating the nerve was 0.33±0.09/sec for the right splanchnic nerve and 0.90±0.27/sec for the left splanchnic nerve (after severance of the right nerve). These values were significantly (P<0.005 and 0.001, respectively) lower than the corresponding values in untreated SHR and comparable with those in normotensive control rats. The concomitant decrease in arterial pressure and sympathetic discharge rate confirms that the major contribution to hypertension of SHR is by elevation of the sympathetic tone.

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Impedance plethysmography was applied for the measurement of intramyocardial phasic blood flow. In the region of the left circumflex artery Mshaped blood flow curve was obtained in the outer and middle layer. This pattern did not resemble that of the inner layer. At the time of reactive hyperemia, increase in blood volume was seen within the myocardium.

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A case with an extraordinary arteriovenous shunt and a systemicpulmonary arteriovenous shunt has been reported. The etiology may be previous pulmonary tuberculosis and pleuritis treated with artificial pneumothorax.

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