Radiotherapy for a pulmonary aspergilloma complicating p-ANCA positive small vessel vasculitis.

Life-threatening haemoptysis may complicate aspergillomas within pre-existing lung cavities. Treatment options have included lung resection, pulmonary or bronchial artery embolisation and antifungal therapy administered either systemically or by endobronchial or percutaneous instillation. We present a case of aspergilloma complicating small vessel vasculitis, and its successful treatment using radiotherapy.

Changes in helper and suppressor T lymphocytes following radiotherapy for breast cancer.

Changes in total lymphocyte, T lymphocyte, T helper and T suppressor lymphocyte numbers were studied in 22 patients with breast cancer before and after radiotherapy. T lymphocyte subsets were measured using monoclonal antibodies and fluorescence microscopy. After treatment the total lymphocyte count fell significantly and was still reduced 9 months later, but the proportion of cells labelled as T lymphocytes was unchanged during this period. The helper-suppressor ratio, which was within the normal range before radiotherapy, was significantly reduced at 3 months and 9 months after. Following treatment both T helper and T suppressor cell numbers were significantly reduced. T helper cell numbers remained reduced throughout the study period but T suppressor cell numbers showed a recovery to normal values 9 months after radiotherapy.

Effect of bendrofluazide on calcium reabsorption in hypoparathyroidism.

In hypoparathyroidism the absence of parathyroid hormone leads to a reduction in the absorption of calcium by renal tubular cells. In spite of treatment with vitamin D, hypercalciuria persists and normocalcaemia can only be maintained by providing the kidney with a large load of calcium. Thiazide diuretics enhance tubular calcium reabsorption and it has been suggested that they can be used as an alternative to vitamin D. Bendrofluazide in a dose of 10 mg daily was given to 9 patients with severe hypoparathyroidism in addition to their usual treatment with calcium and vitamin D. Following the introduction of Bendrofluazide the calculated renal threshold for calcium reabsorption (TmCa/GFR) increased by a mean value of 0.14 mmol/l, and the mean rise in serum calcium was 0.13 mmol/l. This increase was due to a direct effect of the drug and was not caused by salt restriction or changes in glomerular filtration rate. The rise in serum calcium is modest compared to the rise following the introduction of vitamin D and except for patients with mild hypoparathyroidism, thiazides are not an alternative to vitamin D. They may however reduce the oral calcium load required to maintain normocalcaemia.

Renal handling of calcium in hypoparathyroidism.

Treatment of hypoparathyroidism usually requires the use of pharmacological doses of parent vitamin D or near physiological amounts of the hydroxylated metabolites, calcitriol or alphacalcidol. Vitamin D intoxication and hypercalcaemia may be a problem but can be minimised by the use of small doses of vitamin D or its metabolites combined with large amounts of oral calcium. The response to treatment can be easily monitored by measuring serum and urinary calcium and creatinine concentrations. This allows the derivation of two simple indices reflecting calcium load presented to the kidney (calcium excretion in mmol/l glomerular filtrate) and renal tubular calcium reabsorption (TmCa/GFR). These can be used to predict the requirement of calcium supplements and also identify those patients at particular risk of hypercalcaemia.

Testing the anterior pituitary: hypoglycaemia produced by continuous intravenous insulin infusion.

The response of growth hormone, cortisol, and catecholamines to hypoglycaemia produced by a continuous intravenous infusion of insulin was investigated in 10 normal subjects and 15 patients with pituitary disease. The insulin infusion rate was started at 2 U/hour for adolescents, 4 U/hour for adults, and 6 U/hour for patients with acromegaly. If required the rate was increased during the test depending on changes in blood glucose, measured by a Reflomat with low reading glucose oxidase strips. Stopping the infusion when the blood glucose concentration had fallen to 2.0 mmol/l (36 mg/100 ml) resulted in a maximum further fall of 0.7 mmol/l (13 mg/100 ml) and a subsequent spontaneous rise in blood glucose concentration. The rise was identical in normal subjects and in patients with hypopituitarism, further evidence that pituitary hormones--in contrast to glucagon and catecholamines--are relatively unimportant in the recovery from hypoglycaemia. The only patient who required intravenous glucose to restore normoglycaemia was a patient with longstanding insulin dependent diabetes. A comparison with the conventional bolus injection test showed that continuous intravenous insulin infusion was more reliable in producing adequate but not excessive hypoglycaemia and the hormone responses were equivalent. The continuous intravenous insulin infusion may offer particular advantages in the investigation of growth hormone deficiency.

Supplementation of nutritional fluid and electrolyte balance by perfusion of an isolated small bowel loop in a patient with Crohn's disease.

Delayed reanastamosis of small bowel in Crohn's disease has been made possible, largely by parenteral nutrition. We describe a patient with multiple resections resulting in loss of all the small and large bowel except the duodenum and 70 cms of proximal jejunum ending in a jejunostomy and a 150 cm long isolated loop of jejuno-ileum. The short proximal bowel proved adequate for energy and protein nutrition, with small frequent meals but gave rise to a persistent negative balance of water, sodium, potassium and magnesium. This was corrected by overnight perfusion of the isolated loop with an electrolyte solution with added glucose polymer to enhance sodium absorption. The critical rate of perfusion and concentration of glucose polymer were determined by a series of studies. The patient and her husband carried out this regimen for a year at home. The isolated loop was subsequently reanastamosed to the proximal jejunum allowing resumption of normal eating without further electrolyte disturbance.