SUMMARY Restoration of liver mass has been studied in five patients after right hepatic lobectomy. The operation effects an approximate 50 % resection of liver substance. Postmortem observations, measurements of the weight of liver resected at operation, and the study of serial radioisotopic liver scans suggest that liver regeneration in man is initiated very soon after partial hepatectomy and is well advanced within 10 days of operation.The remarkable regenerative capacity of the liver following major hepatic resection is well documented. It has been estimated that function and mass return to normal levels within four to six months of operation (Pack, Islami, Hubbard, and Brasfield, 1962;McDermott, Greenberger, Isselbacher, and Weber, 1963;McDermott, 1970). However, recent reports

Summary Gustrii. emptying halfltinie.y and small intestinal transit times were measured in a double Key wordsAnulgesics, narcotic; morphine. nalbuphine. Gastrointestinal truct; stomach, intestine.Opioid drugs depress gastrointestinal function but there is little information on quantitative differences bctwccn agonists such as morphine and newer synthetic agonist-antagonist drugs. It would be of clinical importance to be able to predict the type and duration of the effect of each drug administered for pain relief. Therefore, to establish methodology, gastric cmptying half-times and small intestinal transit times wcrc measured in volunteers after low intravenous doses of morphine and nalbuphine. MethodThe effects of intravenous nalbuphine or morphine on gastrointestinal function wcrc evaluated in healthy volunteers in a double-blind crossover study. Each volunteer gave written. informed consent and the study was approved by the hospital ethical committee. Volunteers were studied twice and were assigned at random to one of four groups that received intravenously nalhuphine 10 mg or saline placebo (group I).

The accumulation of 99mTc-technetium-labelled liposomes in abscesses was studied. Abscesses were produced in the thighs of albino rats by intramuscular injection of Staphylococcus aureus. After 4 days these abscesses were used to determine the localisation of 99mTc-technetium-labelled anionic, cationic and neutral liposomes in the abscess area. This was achieved by radionuclide images produced by a gamma camera and an associated data-processing system. There was a pronounced uptake of 99mTc-technetium-labelled anionic liposomes in the abscess area compared with the corresponding unaffected thigh. Similar uptake was not shown by the 99mTc-technetium-labelled cationic and neutral liposomes. Abscess uptake of anionic liposomes was maximal at or before 30 min after injection and was not enhanced by prior opsonisation with aggregated rat immunoglobulin.

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Gastric emptying, using a liquid meal labelled with 99Tcm DTPA was studied in 6 patients with Crohn's disease who had diarrhoea following resection of the small intestine. Results were compared with those obtained in 6 normal subjects and 6 patients who had classic dumping symptoms following gastric surgery. The rate of gastric emptying of patients with Crohn's disease was similar to that of normal subjects, and differed markedly from gastric emptying in patients with the dumping syndrome (P less than 0 . 001). Diarrhoea in patients with Crohn's disease who have undergone intestinal resection is not due to rapid gastric emptying and would therefore be unlikely to respond to therapeutic measures designed to improve similar symptoms in patients who have the dumping syndrome.