The first heart transplant patient from Northern Ireland.

A 27-year-old bricklayer was admitted to the South Tyrone Hospital, Dungannon, in August 1984. He gave a two-week history of shortness of breath and cough productive of green sputum. He had no chest pain, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea, orthopnoea or peripheral oedema. He was a non-smoker and drank 12 pints of beer per week. He was pyrexial (temperature 99.80F) and dyspnoeic at rest. He had a cough productive of blood-streaked sputum. The pulse was 132/minute regular. Jugular venous pressure was not raised and the blood pressure was 90/70 mmHg. First and second heart sounds were normal. There was a third heart sound at the apex but no murmurs. In the chest there were coarse and medium crepitations bilaterally in both mid and lower zones.