Complete atrioventricular block and acute pancreatitis

A new, specific haemolytic assay for C2 is described using EAC43 (Antrypol) cells and serum deficient in C4 and C2 from a patient with hereditary angio-oedema. The method is simple and the results in pathological and normal sera correlate well with those obtained using the EA and C2-deficient serum method.     

Decreased antidiuretic response in diabetes insipidus during prolonged treatment with carbamazepine presumably due to enzym-induction

Carbamazepine (CA)-induced antidiuresis and fluorescence in urinary cortisol assay was compared during short-term and prolonged treatment in 3 patients with pituitary diabetes insipidus. The fluorescence induced by excreted CA-metabolite(s) (probably CA-10-11 epoxide and its derivatives) was used for the rough clinical estimation of the rate of metabolic elimination of the drug. A marked decrease was observed both in the antidiuretic response induced by CA and excretion of CA metabolite(s) during prolonged treatment - with a fixed dose of CA. These findings suggest that diminishing antidiuretic effectiveness might be due to auto-induction of CA. Auto-induction of CA may explain the delay in improvement of renal concentrating operation in patients with DI during long-term treatment with fixed doses of CA. Another clinical consequence of this mechanism may be the prevention of the development of water intoxication in neuro-psychiatric patients undergoing chronic treatment with CA.     

Phagocytosis and erythroblastosis. I. Modification of the neonatal response by promethazine hydrochloride

Phagocytic cells were obtained from children at ages comparable to those at which the disease is most commonly seen during pregnancy. The effect of P-HCl on the phagocytic action of these cells on opsonized red blood cells was studied in vitro.     

Truncus arteriosus communis. Unusual case associated with transposition

A child with truncus arteriosus communis, characterized by the posterior origin of an individualized pulmonary trunk is presented. This relationship between the great arteries is unusual in truncus arteriosus communis and the spatial orientation resembles that seen in transposition of the great vessels. A brief discussion is proposed about a proper terminology in this type of complex anomaly.