RAPID MYOCARDIAL CALCIFICATION AFTER CARDIAC SURGERY.

SINCE the advent of cardiac surgery, considerable work has appeared on acid-base and electrolyte balance in the postoperative period, but relatively little of it has concerned calcium. We recently observed a case of rapid myocardial calcification after cardiac surgery and present it as an unusual addition to the existing literature on abnormal myocardial calcification. Report of a Case An eight-year-old boy entered the hospital in June, 1962, for investigation of a cardiac murmur. Two years previously cardiac surgeons at another institution had repaired uneventfully a coarctation of the aorta and a patent ductus arteriosus. The boy's physician, however, discovered a new murmur shortly before the current admission. Past medical history, family history, and review of systems were not contributory. Physical examination showed a well-developed but slender, 50 lb (22.8 kg), child in no distress. The blood pressure was 85/58 mm Hg in the right arm and 98/60 mm Hg in