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Echocardiography is today well established and has gained widespread acceptance as a clinical routine method, especially for the diagnosis of mitral valve stenosis. Since heart structure movements are relatively fast, only information of limited medical value can be obtained from direct inspection of the A-scope display. Ideally, an apparatus for recording the movements of heart structures in the form of curves should record multiple reflected echoes and should also be able to record simultaneously other heart parameters such as ECG, phonocardiogram, or blood pressure.

For several years the ultrasound reflectoscope has been used for the diagnosis of certain heart diseases, especially disease of the heart valves. The technical and physical properties of the transducers used for these investigations are discussed. By different methods of registration the movement of the heart structures to be investigated can be recorded as curves, together with other heart parameters, e.g. ECG, phonocardiogram etc. These curves, which are called ultrasonic cardiograms (UCG), show typical alterations of form in the case of a pathological change in the heart structure in question and thus can be used for diagnostic purposes. The fields of application of the method will be discussed.

A quantitative, morphologic study was undertaken of postmortem heart and lung structure on 144 Appalachian underground coal workers. Thirty-two had a lifetime history of nonsmoking, 24 smoked a pipe or cigars, and 88 smoked cigarettes in various amounts. There was no influence of smoking on the primary coal dust macule and its direct complications but the bituminous-coal miners who smoked had a 17% to 33% greater degree of cor pulmonale, 9% to 25% more emphysema, and 56% to 68% more bronchiolar goblet cells as evidence of chronic bronchiolitis than nonsmoking bituminous-coal miners. No significant effect of smoking on lung and heart structure was found in anthracite miners.