Sixty-one patients with chronic cardliaic compression were stu(lie(l critically, the largest series in the literature. All patients had pericardiectomy perfoilie(l. The operative mortality was 18 pel cent. Satisfactory result was obtainedl 72.1 pei cent of the patients operate(l. Tuberculosis wa.1s the ca.use in 28.2 pei cent. In most of the remaining cases the etiology was obscure. The symptomlls, physical signs, and laboratory examinations are reported. The physiologic stuldies after

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... (lemonstrato improved cardiac filling and emptving. The imllortance of diagnosis and the desirability of pericar(liectomy are stressed. With antiliotic therapy there is less risk in operating patients with active infection and the compression syndlrome. IN THE past 20 years the many cases of chronic compression operatecl at IUniversity Hospitals of Cleveland offered an opportunity for careful study. This report is based upon 61 operative cases from the service of Dr. C. S. Beck, with a study of pre-and postoperative observations. To our knowledge, this is the largest series e-ver reported. Chronic cardiac compression occurs as the result of a contracting pericar(lial scar which encroaches upon the diastolic filling and the systolic emptying of the heart, thereby reducing output. Usually the entire pericardium is converti into a compressing, nondistensible sac. Occasionally a localized fibrous band constricts the inflow or outflow tract of either ventricle. This is the basic pathologic and physiologic disturbance causing the various clinical and laboratory findings. Excellent historical reviews have been written by White