In a prospective study of 13 patients requiring pneumonectomy for unilateral post-tuberculous lung destruction the left side was found to be affected in 12. Review of a further 172 cases showed the left lung to have been destroyed in 109 (63%). It is suggested that this predominance of the left side is due to the anatomical characteristics of the left main bronchus and that disordered haemodynamics also appear to play a part.Unilateral total post-tuberculous lung destruction is a well recognised cause ofmorbidity and mortality.' 2 In Saudi Arabia late presentation and poor compliance with treatment for tuberculosis (as low as 30%') account for an appreciable number of patients presenting in this way, but very few studies have dealt with the problem in detail.4 We report the clinicopathological and haemodynamic findings in 13 patients coming to surgery at King Khalid University Hospital. The left lung was affected more frequently than the right, and we discuss the reasons for this predilection. Patients and methodsWe studied 13 patients with unilateral lung destruction before elective pneumonectomy, by bronchoscopy, bronchography, pulmonary angiography, thoracic aortography, ven-

One hundred sixty-one patients were found to have lower-lung-field tuberculosis in a retrospective study of 1566 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis admitted to Sahary Chest Hospital, Riyadh. This represents 10.3% of the total admissions over a period of four years. Lower-lung-field tuberculosis is more common in females. Twenty-six percent of the patients had had previous antitubercular treatment. Sputum conversion took 40.4 days. Average hospital stay was 50 days. Hemoptysis was found in 46% of cases and diabetes mellitus was discovered in 13%. Chest x-ray studies showed right lung involvement in 46% of cases, bilateral involvement in 29%, and left lung involvement in 25% of cases. A cavitary lesion was found in 49%.

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In a retrospective review of 241 patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis, hypercalcemia was found in 62 (26%). It was detected on presentation in 48 patients and developed in 14 patients 4 to 6 weeks after the start of antituberculous chemotherapy. The mean (± SD) serum calcium level in those cases was 2.78 (± 0.137) mmol/L. The majority of cases (67.6%) had a mild rise in the calcium level that remained below 2.8 mmol/L but 35% had a level that ranged between 2.8 and 3.0 mmol/L. Only 2.4% had serum level higher than 3.0 mmol/L, which could explain the predominant absence of hypercalcemia-related symptoms. Hypercalcemia was more common in patients older than 50 years (P < 0.05), but this did not correlate with the extent of the tuberculosis shown on radiological evaluation. Spontaneous return to normocalcemia occurred in all 42 patients who underwent serial assessments of their serum calcium concentration, 6 to 8 weeks after the start of chemotherapy. Saudi Arabia is known to have a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, but none of our patients were immobilized or had received vitamin D supplements or multivitamins. This supports the view that vitamin D intake does not play a major role in inducing hypercalcemia in cases of active pulmonary tuberculosis, as has been suspected.

Background Digoxin, one of the first treatments for symptoms of congestive heart failure (CHF), is currently used in the management of persistent CHF symptoms as well as for ventricular rate control in atrial fibrillation. Current guidelines suggest digoxin as an adjunct to optimal medical therapy for symptomatic improvement in CHF. However, the data regarding the effect of digoxin use on mortality continue to be conflicting. Purpose The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the association of digoxin therapy with mortality in patients with ischemic heart failure defined by severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and coronary artery disease (CAD) in the Surgical Treatment for Ischemic Heart Failure (STICH) trial. Methods STICH randomized 1012 patients with CAD and LV ejection fraction&lt;35% to coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and medical therapy vs. medical therapy alone. Factors predictive of digoxin use were identified with a binomial logistic regression model. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards modelling was performed with digoxin use modelled as a segmented time-dependent covariate. The model was adjusted for baseline clinical characteristics (including age, race, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, peripheral vascular disease, NYHA heart failure class, previous myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, creatinine level, smoking status, and STICH treatment group) and stratified based on sex. All covariates were verified to meet the proportional hazards assumption. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included death and hospitalization due to cardiovascular causes. Relative risks were expressed as adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Of the 1012 patients, 351 (35% [36% of male patients and 27% of female patients]) reported digoxin use for some duration during the study period. Significant predictors of digoxin use included minority status, NYHA class, previous myocardial infarction, and baseline diagnosis of hypertension, diabetes, or atrial fibrillation. At a mean follow-up of 9.8 years, 566 patients (55.7%) experienced all-cause mortality and 387 patients (38.1%) died due to cardiovascular causes. The adjusted Cox proportional hazards model demonstrated that digoxin use was independently associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (aHR 1.22, 95% CI: 1.00–1.49, P=0.049). Digoxin use was also associated with increased risk of cardiovascular death (aHR 1.29, 95% CI: 1.02–1.64, P=0.032). There was no impact of digoxin on hospitalization for cardiovascular causes. Conclusion Use of digoxin in patients with ischemic heart failure was associated with an increased risk of both all-cause and cardiovascular death. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None