The aetiology of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia is still unknown, and there are few reports on familial coincidence in the literature. A case of a previously healthy man with an episode of acute myocarditis is described. After recovery from acute myocarditis, the patient was resuscitated from aborted sudden cardiac death 16 months later. Angiographic and electrophysiological evaluation suggested the pattern of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. The case seems to suggest that arrhythmogenic right and/or left ventricular dysplasia could be mimicked by chronic (or healed) myocarditis.

A patient is reported in whom an intravenous bolus injection of 50 mg lignocaine produced extreme sinus bradycardia (rate 14 to 20/min). Only 2 patients with such a response to a similarly small dose have been previously reported, but these reports indicate clearly that careful electrocardiographic monitoring is advisable when lignocaine is administered.