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Noncardiogenic pulmonary edema occurs in 35% of salicylate-intoxicated patients who are over 30 years old. Cigarette smoking, chronic salicylate ingestion, a component of metabolic acidosis, and the presence of neurological symptoms on admission are strong risk factors for the subsequent development of pulmonary edema in the appropriate age group. In the absence of these risk factors, salicylate-induced pulmonary edema is rare. The etiology is multifactorial, but it centers around altered vascular permeability in the lungs.

Three cases of acyanotic levocardia are reported. One case was associated with congenitally corrected transposition and arterial AV valve insufficiency. The precise nature of the heart disease in the second case has not been determined, and the last case was without known cardiac disease. Attention is drawn to a serious lack of an accepted terminology in describing cases with spatial derangements of the heart or its chambers as well as incomplete data in published reports concerning the relative positions and internal anatomy of the chambers of the heart, its peripheral connections, and the disposition of the abdominal viscera. It is probable many more individuals with levocardia without heart disease, or with acyanotic heart disease, exist than is suggested by the current medical literature.

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