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Two young patients aged 14 and 25 with left ventricular aneurysms are described. In both, a clinical picture initiated by attacks of supraventricular tachycardia led to the discovery of the condition. In the first patient the clinical picture clearly suggested a traumatic aetiology. In the second, the angiographic and histological findings strongly favoured a congenital origin. Both patients underwent successful aneurysmectomy. The literature on the incidence and aetiology of traumatic or congenital ventricular aneurysms is discussed.

A case of false aneurysm of the left atrium after closed mitral commissurotomy which was demonstrated by cineangiography is here reported. It is believed that the false aneurysm resulted from a tear of the left appendage which accidentally occurred during the surgical procedure. The diagnosis was suspected in plain chest X-ray and fluoroscopy. Angiography demonstrated the presence of a false aneurysm of the left atrium which was confirmed at surgery.

Between January 1970 and August 1974, eleven postinfarction patients underwent left ventricular aneurysmectomy for refractory tachyarrhythmias. Ten suffered from ventricular tachycardias and one from supraventricular tachycardia. All had localized aneurysms and normal contractions of the surrounding myocardium on angiocardiography. None suffered from significant angina, congestive heart failure or papillary muscle dysfunction. The diagnosis was first suspected at fluoroscopy, the latter being in our opinion a most reliable screening method for the recognition of these cases. There was one hospital death after surgery. The remaining ten patients are now free from further arrhythmic attacks for a follow-up period between fourteen months to five and a half years. These results confirm that in some carefully selected postinfarction patients, left ventricular aneurysmectomy without concomittant aortocoronary bypass may result in the elimination of medically intractable tachyarrhythmias.