Congenital absence of left pericardium in a family.

Characteristic radiographic findings of absence of the left pericardium were observed in two relatives who were related to two other individuals with different types of congenital heart defects. Familial occurrence of congenital absence of pericardium has not been reported previously. The strong male sex predilection in the previously reported patients, the segregation pattern of affected individuals in the pedigree presented here, and the presence of two other individuals with multifactorially determined congenital heart defects in the same pedigree suggest multifactorial determination of congenital absence of the left pericardium.