353between the degree of severity of anaemia and of ventricular dilatation.If congestive cardiomyopathy in chronically uraemic patients on dialysis is a syndrome of homogeneous origin and similar evolution in all cases then an intensified search for the factors that may cause it is indicated. In this way the syndrome could be diagnosed at an early stage and treated. Greco, F, et al, Circulation, 1969, 40, 87. 26 Mason, D T, American Journal of Cardiology, 1973, 32, 437. 27 Grant, C, et al, American3Journal of Medicine, 1965Medicine, , 39, 1969 (Accepted 7 December 1976) CONDENSED REPORT Accidental hypothermia and impaired temperature homoeostasis in the elderly K J COLLINS, CAROLINE DORE, A N EXTON-SMITH, R H FOX, I C MACDONALD, PATRICIA M WOODWARD British Medical Journal, 1977, 1, 353-356 Summary A longitudinal study of the age-related decline in thermoregulatory capacity was made in 47 elderly people to try to identify those at risk from spontaneous hypothermia. During the winters of 1971-2 and 1975-6 environmental and body temperature profiles were obtained in the home, and thermoregulatory function was investigated by cooling and warming tests. Environmental temperature and socioeconomic conditions had not changed but the body core-shell temperature gradients were smaller in 1976, indicating progressive thermoregulatory impairment. People at risk of developing hypothermia also seem to have low resting peripheral blood flows, a non-