No abstract

Since the preliminary report on the use of mepacrine in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (Freedman and Bach, 1952), there has been a gradual appreciation of the value of 4-amino quinolone compounds for this condition. Many papers have appeared (Forestier and Certonciny, 1954;Scherbel, Schuchter, and Harrison, 1957;Erlendsson, 1958;Fuld and Horwich, 1958), but controlled trials have been few. The first (Freedman, 1956) dealt with 66 patients each observed for a period of 16 weeks. The finding that the chloroquine-treated patients did better than the controls was confirmed by trials undertaken by Rinehart, Rosenbaum, and Hopkins (1957), Cohen andCalkins (1958), andKuipers (1959) Patients ill enough to be admitted to hospital were not accepted into the trial, and anyone within the trial was withdrawn if the condition so deteriorated as to warrant admission to hospital.Treatment.-During the trial period all patients received eight 5-gr. tablets of enteric-coated aspirin daily, and if they were anaemic oral iron was also prescribed. The patients also received either chloroquine or dummy tablets of identical appearance, the physician not knowing which kind the patient was having throughout the trial. These tablets were prescribed according to the serial number given to the patient as each was admitted into the trial. A list of these numbers divided randomly into two groups, P and Q, was held by the pharmacist, who dispensed either P or Q tablets according to the serial number. The dispenser did not know which was the active preparation. Those patients who were receiving the active preparation were in fact taking chloroquine sulphate 200 mg. twice daily. In a few cases in both groups side-effects occurred; these were considered to be toxic effects and a reduction of dosage to one and a half tablets daily was made. Appropriate splinting and physiotherapy were also prescribed.Assessment.-The patients were examined by one of us at a special clinic held for this purpose on a separate afternoon. At each visit they were asked specific questions concerning their symptoms and their need for analgesics other than those routinely prescribed, and about any change in their self-care and ability to work.Special note was made of their colour, and the presence of oedema, nodules, lymph-glands, and rashes.The temporo-mandibular, clavicular, and manubrial joints and the spine as well as the limb joints were separately examined.

No abstract

Magnetopneumography was used to measure non-invasively the concentration of the ferrimagnetic fraction of retained welding fume in the thoraces of steel arc welders. This was done by measuring the remanent magnetic fields due to ferrimagnetic particles. The 11 welders studied had concentrations of thoracic ferrimagnetic mineral several orders of magnitude greater than three machinists, 16 former asbestos insulators, and 24 control subjects. These concentrations correlated well with total years welding (p < 0-01) and radiographic evidence of small rounded densities (p < 0 05), but not with smoking history. There was a higher concentration of ferrimagnetic mineral over the hilar regions. Magnetopneumography offers a non-invasive indicator of the accumulation of welding fume in the thorax. Magnetopneumography is a non-invasive

An adult case of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis presented with an arterial oxygen tension of 27 mmHg (3-6 kPa) while breathing air. Dangerous hypoxaemia during lung lavage was avoided by using partial cardiopulmonary bypass.