Hypouricemia seen with hyponatremia related to the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) results from an increase in uric acid renal clearance. We studied the mechanism of the increase of uric acid excretion in 6 SIADH patients through pyrazinamide (PZA), which decreases tubular secretion of uric acid, and sulfinpyrazone (SPZ) which decreases post-secretory reabsorption of uric acid. 3 g of PZA decreased the absolute uric acid excretion from 428 ± 244 to 105 ± 47 μg/min (mean ± SD, p < 0.01), and 300 mg of SPZ increased the uric acid to creatinine clearance ratio from 0.31 ± 0.05 to 0.52 ± 0.05 mg/dl glomerular filtration rate (mean ± SEM, p < 0.001), which represent an increment about half of that observed in the control group. The increase of uric acid clearance in SIADH seems to result from a decrease in the post-secretory reabsorption of uric acid. After SPZ, we saw a decrease of natriuresis from 5.6 ± 1.4 to 1.8 ± 0.3 mmol/h (p < 0.001), without any change of urinary flow or urinary potassium excretion.

Eighty adult patients with microbiologically demonstrated staphylococcal infections were included in a comparative trial of cefamandole and cefamandole plus tobramycin. Patients with cefamandole-resistant pathogens were treated with vancomycin, if the initial therapy consisted of cefamandole, but were continued on cefamandole plus tobramycin if already started on that combination. Of the patients infected with cefamandole-susceptible strains, 91% (20/22) responded favorably to treatment with cefamandole alone, and 88% (30/34) responded favorably to cefamandole plus tobramycin. Of the patients infected with cefamandole-resistant staphylococci, 70%o (7/10) responded to treatment with cefamandole plus tobramycin, and 86%o (12/14) responded to treatment with vancomycin, even though vancomycin therapy was started 24 to 48 h later than cefamandole-plustobramycin therapy. No major side effects were observed; however, cefamandole plus tobramycin was associated with a rise in the serum creatinine level in 11% (4/ 44) of the patients. The bactericidal activity of the serum in cefamandole-treated patients and in cefamandole-plus-tobramycin-treated patients was identical against cefamandole-susceptible strains. Against cefamandole-resistant strains, 87% of the vancomycin-containing sera were bactericidal at a dilution of 1:8, whereas only 57% of the cefamandole-plus-tobramycin-containing sera were active at that dilution.

In an open-label study, 69 children with organic or idiopathic growth hormone deficiency (GHD) were treated with recombinant human growth hormone (Saizen) for an average of 64.4 mo, with treatment periods as long as 140.9 mo. Auxologic measurements, including height velocity, height standard deviation score, and bone age, were made on a regular basis. The data suggest that long-term treatment with Saizen in children with GHD results in a positive catch-up growth response and proportionate changes in bone age vs height age during treatment. In addition, long-term Saizen therapy was well tolerated, with the majority of adverse events related to common childhood disorders or existing baseline medical conditions and not to study treatment. There were no significant changes in laboratory safety data or vital signs, and no positive antibody tests for Saizen.

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