The air bronchogram: sonographic demonstration.

A new sonographic pattern of pulmonary consolidation associated with air-filled bronchi in children is presented. The consolidated area of the lung is usually hypoechoic, poorly defined, and wedge-shaped. The air-filled bronchi produce linear, high-amplitude branching echoes that converge toward the lung root. Posterior acoustic shadowing and reverberation artifacts are seen accompanying the proximal large bronchi. A comparative study is presented in which 30 pediatric patients with clinical and radiographic evidence of pneumonia were sonographically evaluated. Twenty-eight patients were successfully examined with sonography. The cases were divided into three groups: (1) consolidated lung without pleural effusion (19 patients); (2) consolidated lung with small pleural effusion (five patients); and (3) consolidated lung with partial compression atelectasis due to large pleural effusion (four patients).

Salicylate antagonizes the antiinflammatory action of aspirin in the rat.

On the ground of conflicting evidence concerning the interaction of salicylate and aspirin, we investigated the results of such interaction on carrageenin edema of the rat hind paw. Aspirin and sodium salicylate were administered by stomach tube either singly or in combination, at a dose of 50 mg/kg each. The antiinflammatory effect was significantly greater when aspirin was administered prior to salicylate than when aspirin followed salicylate. It is therefore suggested that salicylate may antagonize the action of aspirin in vivo, and that the temporal order in which the two drugs interact with cyclooxygenase may be an important determinant of the outcome.