THE OBSERVATION of heart block in a newly born infant is of such rarity and unusual interest that the following case seems worthy of report.
A girl was born after thirty-five weeks' gestation, on Oct. 7, 1944. The pregnancy was complicated by the severe diabetes of the mother. Delivery was by cesarean section. Although the infant breathed immediately, her cry was feeble. Her weight at birth was 1,980 Gm. At general examination no abnormality was noted except for a systolic heart murmur heard over the entire precordium. The pulse rate was 160 beats per minute. A variable cardiac arrhythmia was
I II III present and was thought to be due to extrasystoles. The child was placed in an incubator, and frequent determinations of levels of sugar in the blood were made by the micromethod. The hypoglycemia from which the infant suffered was counteracted by parenteral and oral administration of dextrose.