Sodium and potassium concentrations were determined in orythroeytes from patients treated with digitalis. Some of these patients showed gastrointestinal and/or cardiac symptoms of digitalis intoxication. The erythrocytes of this group of patients showed--in contrast to the group without symptoms of intoxication--a marked decrease of potassium concentration as well as a strong increase of sodium concentration and sodium potassium ratio. The determination of electrolytes in orythrocytes can be recommended as a relatively simple method to simplify the diagnosis of digitalis intoxication.
An 18-year-old female with primary oxalosis, seen first when she was in advanced renal failure, developed a severe necrotizing angiopathy which began after a rapid decrease in renal function requiring chronic dialysis. Because of the severe angiopathy the preliminary diagnosis of an acute autoimmune vasculitis had been made. The correct diagnosis was revealed by renal biopsy and a renal transplantation performed. Soon after severe oxalosis led to failure of the renal transplant and death. The patient had also had familial spherocytosis, inherited from her father, while the oxalosis had been inherited from her mother. It is suggested that early transplantation at the onset of renal failure, as long as the blood oxalate level is still tolerably low, may give better results than have so far been reported.
In 58 patients with end-stage renal failure before commencement of regular hemodialyses treatment (RTD) and 58 patients under RTD bone mineral content (BMC) was determined by the use of the photon absorptiometry. Further the effect of a treatment with bitamin D3 and 5,6-trans-25-OH-vitamin D3 on BMC was studied. There existed a negative correlation between the duration of chronic renal failure or of RDT as well as of the serum parathyroid hormone level to BMC. No correlation was found between BMC and serum calcium level. During a 14 months-course treatment with vitamin D3 or 5,6-trans-25-OH-vitamin D3 BMC increased. The method of photon absorptiometry presented itself as an easy and well reproducible technique for routine examinations.
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