SummaryThe results of treating 143 patients with trigeminal neuralgia with carbamazepine (CBZ) over a 16-year period have been reviewed. The drug was effective initially with few mild side effects in 99 patients (69 %). Of these, 19 developed resistance later, i.e. between 2 months and 10 years after commencing treatment, and required alternative measures. Of the remaining 80 (56 %), the drug was effective in 49 for 1-4 years and in 31 for 5-16 years. Thirty-six patients (25%) failed to respond to CBZ initially and required alternative measures, as did 8 (6 %) who were intolerant of the drug. One patient developed CBZ-induced water intoxication with hyponatraemia. Subsequently hyponatraemia was excluded in 17 patients who had been taking CBZ for between 4 months and 7 years. This study has thus confirmed the efficacy of CBZ in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia and shown that it may continue to be effective for many years.

No abstract

Following recent evidence that brachial and femoral artery pressures are more reliable than radial artery pressures after cardiopulmonary bypass, thirty-one adults had simultaneous preand post-bypass measurements of brachial ,femoral, and ascending aortic pressures. Two minutes after cardiopulmonary bypass, brachial artery systolic pressure and mean arterial pressure fell significantly below corresponding pressures in the femoral artery and aorta. Five minutes after cardiopulmonary bypass, only brachial artery systolic pressure was still less than femoral and aortic systolic pressures. By ten minutes after bypass, all significant pressure differences had resolved except between brachial and femoral artery systolic pressures. Clinically significant (2 5 mmHg) aortic-to-brachial reductions in mean arterial pressures occurred in six (19%) patients at two minutes and in three (10%) patients atfive and ten minutes after bypass. Equivalent aortic-tofemoral mean pressure diminution occurred in two (6%) patients at two minutes and one (3%) patient at five and ten minutes after bypass. Neither systemic vascular resistance nor body temperatures contributed significantly to post-bypass central-to-peripheral pressure reductions. Immediately following bypass, femoral artery pressures reproduce central aortic pressures more reliably than do radial or brachial artery pressures.