No abstract

Ambulatory 24 hour blood pressure measurements were performed in 21 patients with various forms of secondary hypertension and were compared with the blood pressure profile of a matched group of patients with primary hypertension. Patients with renovascular (n = 8) and renoparechymal hypertension (n = 8), and with primary hyperaldosteronism (n = 4) showed no significant fall in systolic blood pressure during the sleeping period (00-03 a.m.) and in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the early morning (06 a.m.) as compared with essential hypertensives. However, in a single case of hypertension due to coarctation of the aorta the 24 hour blood pressure profile is not different from essential hypertension. Thus, ambulatory 24 hour blood pressure recording is a good method for screening secondary forms of hypertension.

Abdominal ultrasonic screening of patients clinically asymptomatic of abdominal disease was performed in 5 720 subjects. In these asymptomatic persons pathological ultrasonic findings were reported in 47.1% of all cases, but these were mostly without clinical relevance. This is especially true for diffuse liver disease (30.9%), asymptomatic gallstones (6.1%), and typical renal cysts (5.7%). Asymptomatic malignant abdominal tumours (0.2% or 13 cases) were detected very rarely, and were found to be mostly renal carcinomas.

Lard and lean beef were irradiated separately in a beam of accelerated electrons (6 million rep in a Van de Graaff apparatus). Test meals were fed to dogs, using combinations of irradiated and unirradiated lard and beef. On the average irradiated lard, whether fed by itself or with meat, was retained in the stomach to a greater extent than normal lard (65% vs. 47%), filled the small intestine to a smaller extent (8% vs. 11%), and was less readily absorbed (27% vs. 42%) in a specified time. The difference in absorption can be accounted for by the difference in gastric evacuation. The peroxide value of lard rose abruptly on radiation from 1–2 to 176 and in 14 months of cold storage continued to rise to approximately twice this value. It is concluded that irradiation of lard is detrimental to its digestion in the dog. Submitted on December 22, 1958

Forty-two patients with an abdominal aortic aneurysm that had not been treated surgically were repeatedly examined by ultrasonography. The average observation time of all patients was 3.1 years. The total observation period including follow-up times of all patients adds up to 129 "patient years". Within this time none of the 35 asymptomatic abdominal aneurysms with transversal diameters of maximally 5 cm ruptured. Three patients of seven with larger and symptomatic aneurysms died in consequence of a rupture. Small asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms seem to have a better prognosis than previously supposed. The question whether all abdominal aneurysms should be operated on needs reconsideration, especially in the elderly.