Three treatments for chronic pilonidal disease were compared in a randomized trial. Healing without formation of new sinuses occurred equally frequent after excision (E), excision with suture (E + S) and excision with suture under cover with clindamycin (E + S + C). The times of healing were significantly shorter after E + S (median 14 days, n = 29) than after E (64 days, n = 29) and tended to be even shorter after E + S + C (11 days, n = 30). Recurrence rates within 3 years amounted to 13 per cent after E, 25 per cent after E + S and 19 per cent after E + S + C, but the total time of healing after initial surgery as well as excision of recurrences was significantly shorter after E + S than after E and tended to be even shorter after E + S + C.

Peripheral plasma insulin and C-peptide concentrations during oral glucose tolerance tests were measured in 7 severely obese and 12 normal weight nondiabetic subjects. The insulin and C-peptide levels as well as incremental areas under the plasma curves were 2--5 times higher in the obese subjects (P less than 0.05). The C-peptide to insulin molar ratios as well as the relation between incremental areas under the plasma curves of the two peptides were used as relative measures of the hepatic insulin extraction. They were both reduced in the obese subjects, which suggests that decreased insulin removal may contribute to the hyperinsulinemia of obesity. Sixty minutes after the oral glucose load, all of the obese patients had higher peripheral venous insulin concentrations compared with those found in normal subjects with similar C-peptide levels. This suggests that the reduced insulin extraction is not entirely explained by increased beta-cell secretory activity, but is also a specific consequence of obesity.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS) often have idiopathic asymptomatic thrombocytopenia. In affected dogs, the thrombocytes often are large, and it has been speculated that the condition could be an inherited macrothrombocytopenia. The aim of this study was to examine the inheritance of idiopathic, asymptomatic thrombocytopenia in CKCS. Sixteen families (both parents and > or = 3 offspring) of privately owned CKCS were included. There were 105 clinically healthy dogs (50 from Denmark and 55 from Sweden): 81 offspring and 26 parents (2 dogs had both roles). Because autoanalyzers have difficulty counting large platelets, the platelets were counted manually, with a counting chamber. Platelet counts were not influenced by age, gender, or heart murmur status. Thrombocytopenia (< or = 100,000 platelets/microL) was found in 46% of the parents. The pedigrees indicated that thrombocytopenia segregated as an autosomal recessive trait and that 100,000 platelets/microL was appropriate as a lower limit of normal. Affected offspring were found in all families, showing that all of the included parents were at least carriers. Therefore, the expected segregation ratios (which were in good accordance with the observed ones) were 1:0, 1:1, and 1:3 for the 3 crosses: affected x affected, normal x affected, and normal x normal. Within a given cross, the mean parental platelet count had no influence on the platelet counts of the offspring. We conclude that idiopathic, asymptomatic thrombocytopenia in CKCS is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. The condition most likely constitutes an inherited macrothrombocytopenia in dogs.

SUMMARY The effect of a long acting somatostatin analogue SMS 201-995 on stomal effluents in patients with severe short bowel syndrome was investigated in a double blind placebo controlled balance study. Six patients, five with Crohn's disease and one with radiation enteropathy were studied. Five patients had a jejunostomy and one an ileostomy. The patients had a normal food intake, but because of severe malabsorption had received home parenteral nutrition for several years. Faecal mass was reduced (p<0005) and intestinal net sodium absorption was increased (p