In November 1986, I was invited to attend a symposium held in Barcelona on Diseases of the Pericardium. The course was directed by Dr. J. Soler-Soler, director of Cardiology at Hospital General Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona. During my brief but delightful visit to this institution, my appreciation of the depth and breadth of study into pericardial diseases, carried out by Dr. Soler and his group, grew into the conviction that these clinical investigators have accumulated a wealth of information concerning pericardial diseases, and that investigators and clinicians practicing in English speaking countries would greatly profit from ready access to the results of the clinical investiga­ tions into pericardial disease carried out in Barcelona. The proceedings of the Barcelona conference were published in a beauti­ fully executed volume in the Spanish language edited by Dr. Soler and pro­ duced by Ediciones Doyma. Because I believe that this work should be brought to the attention of the English speaking scientific and clinical com­ munities, I encouraged Dr. Soler to have the book translated into English. I knew that this task could be accomplished and that the book would be trans­ lated into good English without change of its content. My confidence was based upon a translation of my own book, The Pericardium, into Spanish undertaken by Dr. Permanyer, who is a contributor and co-editor of the pre­ sent volume.

Echocardiographic diagnosis of pericardial effusion: a critical evaluation.- Tamponade and constriction: an appraisal of echocardiography and external pulse recordings.- Cardiac tamponade: current pathophysiological and diagnostic views.- Differentiation of constrictive pericarditis and restrictive cardiomyopathy: general overview and new insights from two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic studies.- Transient cardiac constriction.- Tuberculous pericarditis.- Pericardial involvement in end stage renal disease.- Significance of pericardial effusion in acute myocardial infarction.- Massive chronic idiopathic pericardial effusion.- Indications for pericardiectomy in the absence of constriction.- Limitations of surgery for constrictive pericarditis.- Acute pericardial disease: an approach to etiologic diagnosis and treatment.- Appendix 1. Protocol for the diagnosis and management of pericardial diseases Service of Cardiology, Hospital General Vall d'Hebron.- Appendix 2. Protocol for the diagnosis and management of pericardial disease in the patients with end stage renal disease Service of Nephrology, Hospital General Vall d'Hebron.- Appendix 3. Francisco Romero: a pioneer of pericardiotomy (1801) J. Pascual-Rodríguez.