Case 50-1964

Presentation of Case First admission. A forty-seven-year-old housewife entered the hospital because of a heart murmur and dyspnea. One year previously she began to experience exertional dyspnea and mild wheezing. She was otherwise well until a month before admission, when severe pharyngitis, fever and cough developed, and she was treated with an antibiotic. Two weeks later she entered another hospital, where x-ray films of the chest were interpreted as showing congestion of the lungs and possibly pneumonia. A low-salt diet, diuretics, digitalis and supplemental potassium were given, and she was discharged. The cough and fever subsided, but she remained weak . . .