The effect of low doses of heparin (5000 units of sodium heparin every 12 hours for 5 days) on arterial oxygenation was studied in 24 patients in the postoperative period after upper abdominal surgery. Another 24 patients served as a control group. The arterial oxygen tension was the same in both groups preoperatively and was equally significantly reduced during the 1st postoperative day. During the 2nd day, oxygen tension rose in the heparin-treated group to values which no longer differed significantly from the peroperative level. In the control group the significant reduction persisted until the 4th postoperative day. The arterial carbon-dioxide tension did not differ between the groups, neither did it vary significantly between days. There were no clinical signs of large pulmonary embolism during the postoperative period, chest X-ray was normal in all patients examined and a photoscan was normal in 23 of 24 subjects studied. Low-dose heparin treatment may apparently shorten the period of postoperative hypoxaemia, probably by counteracting both large pulmonary emboli and microthromboembolism.

Oral disopyramide given prophylactically following myocardial infarction has been compared with placebo in a double-blind trial using continuous-tape monoriting of the electocardiogram. It caused a significant reduction in the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias and of the various degrees of heart-block. There was a significant reduction of reinfarction during hospital stay in patients who had received disopyramide. Disopyramide appears to be a safe and effective oral therapy in the prevention of potentially serious arrhythmias following myocardial infarction.

Antibiotic sensitivities of 15302 organisms of common pathogenic species isolated in one hospital pathology department in 1971 and 1974 have been studied. Resistance to cephaloridine did not change materially. The proportion of strains resistant to ampicillin did, however, increase, and this is attributed to the widespread therapeutic use of the antibiotic. Cephaloridine, on the other hand, was largely used in the hospital as a single-dose, intra-incisional prophylactic against surgical wound sepsis.

36 patients in severe diabetic ketoacidosis were studied prospectively. All patients were treated with small doses of insulin, the first 18 by the intramuscular route and the remainder by continuous intravenous infusion. These patients were compared with 25 ketoacidotic patients who were treated with large intravenous boluses of insulin. With the intramuscular regimen there was a slower fall of blood-sugar than with intravenous insulin administered either in boluses or as a continuous infusion. The acidosis took longer to correct when small doses of insulin were used. In practice a long time interval between correction of the hyperglycaemia and correction of the acidosis may be a problem when the continuous infusion of insulin is used. Potassium requirements during treatment were identical (30-40 mmol/l fluid infused) and independent of the insulin regimen. However, small doses of insulin led to a poor retention of potassium. In the management of diabetic ketoacidosis the mode of administration of insulin is of limited significance, and small doses, although effective in most cases, are not clearly superior to conventional treatment with large doses.

Minor wounds presenting in the accident department requiring suture were randomly allocated to one of three treatment groups: an intramuscular injection of 1-25 megaunits of penicillin as a long-acting depot preparation, local wound irrigation with 100mg of tetracycline in solution, or no antibiotics. All wounds had a standard surgical toilet and were closed under aseptic conditions. Wound infections were noted five to seven days after suture, and in the two groups receiving antibiotics 23% of the wounds were infected whilst in the control group the frequency was 7%. The wisdom of using routine antibiotic prophylaxis in minor wounds is questioned.

Bromocriptine (CB-154, Sandoz) has been given to 21 acromegalic patients (11 female, 10 male) for a period of 6-10 months. The mean serum growth-hormone (G.H.) levels ranged from 10 mug/1 to 512 mug/1 before therapy. Bromocriptine suppressed G.H. values to 5 mug/1 or less in 4 patients and to less than 10 mug/1 in a further 8 patients, but in 2 patients G.H. levels did not show any significant reduction. Bromocriptine did not block stress-induced G.H. secretion. It did not distrub pituitary function other than secretion of prolactin and had negligible side-effects. Its effect on tumour size is uncertain and it is therefore unsuitable for patients with suprasellar extension of the tumour. Otherwise it seems reasonable to offer a trial of bromocriptine to all patients with acromegaly where therapy is deemed necessary. In those who show a full response of G.H. levels with a dose of 20-40 mg of bromocriptine per day, external radiation to the pituitary can be used to prevent tumour expansion and bromocriptine withdrawn at intervals to assess the effect of the radiation. In patients with a partial response to bromocriptine, the decision to offer alternative therapy depends on the extent of the response and on the age and medical condition of the patient. In patients who fail to respond to bromocriptine, particularly those younger patients with active disease, more definitive local treatment (e.g., trans-sphenoidal removal of the tumour or yttrium-90 implantation) would be indicated. Bromocriptine may also be used with benefit in the large number of patients who have shown a partial response to other forms of therapy.

A randomised prospective trial comparing "no immediate treatment" with single and multiple agent chemotherapy in 188 patients with inoperable carcinoma of the bronchus is reported. No immediate treatment proved a significantly better policy both for patients' survival and for quality of remaining life.

A multicentre randomised controlled trial of xenon-arc photocoagulation for diabetic maculopathy is reported. This interim account reports the visual-acuity results of those who were followed up for up to three years. 76 patients were seen after one year, 44 after two years, and 25 after three years. Initially each patient had two similarly affected eyes of which one was treated. The treated eyes retained significantly better visual acuity than the untreated ones. Treated eyes deteriorated by 1 or 2 Snellen lines significantly less often than did untreated eyes. 8 treated and 18 untreated eyes became blind. Prognosis was best in those with initial visual acuity of 6/24 or better.

A total of 481 adult Chinese, Malays, and Indians in Singapore with newly diagnosed smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis were allocated at random to four regimens of intermittent rifampicin plus isoniazid. All patients received an initial 2 weeks of daily streptomycin plus isoniazid plus rifampicin. This was followed either by twice-weekly isoniazid 15 mg/kg plus rifampicin 900 mg (HR2 regimen) or 600 mg (LR2 regimen), or by once-weekly isoniazid 15 mg/kg plus rifampicin 900 mg (HR1 regimen) or 600 mg (LR1 regimen). In addition, all patients received a daily capsule containing, at random, either rifampicin 25 mg or a matched placebo to see if the rifampicin supplement would reduce the incidence of adverse reactions to the drug. At 12 months, all the patients on the two twice-weekly regimens (HR2, LR2) had a favourable bacteriological status as had 97% of 102 HR1 and 93% of 112 LR1 patients. The therapeutic response was significantly better on the twice-weekly than on the once-weekly regimens (P = 0-0005), but the dose size of rifampicin did not have a statistically significant effect. Adverse reactions to intermittent rifampicin occurred in 25% of the HR1 patients but on the other three regimens their incidence was low. The incidence of rifampicin-dependent antibodies was higher, ranging from 48% (HR1) to 24% (LR2). The effect of dose size on the incidence of the "flu" syndrome (the commonest reaction) and of antibodies was statistically significant (P less than 0-01 and less than 0-001, respectively). The interval between doses affected the incidence of the "flu" syndrome (P less than 0-001), but not of antibodies (P greater than 0-25). The rifampicin 25 mg supplement had no effect therapeutically or on the incidence of adverse reactions or of antibodies.