DCPC is one of the most accepted therapeutic modalities in the treatment of AA, with a favourable prognosis among patchy hair loss. MHC II expression was the one correlating with clinical response. Tacrolimus, though beneficial in other dermatoses, could not be considered effective in the treatment of AA.

was performed in infants with severe hyaline membrane disease who weighed more than 1000 g at birth. Infants entered the trial if their arterial oxygen tension (PaoQ) fell below 60 mmHg while breathing a fractional inspired oxygen concentration (FIo,) greater than 095. 11 out of 12 infants in the CIP-treated group and 10 out of 12 in the control group survived. 7 treated and 6 control infants required mechanical ventilation. When CIP was started the Pao, of the treated infants increased, and they breathed high concentrations of oxygen for a significantly shorter period than the control infants. During the 31-month duration of the trial 107 other infants with severe hyaline membrane disease were admitted who did not meet the criteria for entry to the trial. 37 survived after breathing high concentrations of oxygen (FIO2 >0 * 60) spontaneously without any ventilatory assistance, and the remaining 70 infants were already being ventilated on their arrival in the unit, usually because they had required mechanical ventilation during transfer from other hospitals. The neonatal survival rate for those infants born in this hospital during the study period was 88% (50 out of 57 infants) and for those referred from other hospitals it was 69% (51 out of 74 infants). The maximum further increase in overall survival rate that might have been achieved in our population of infants if CIP had been initiated very early in the course of the illness was 5 %-i.e. from 77% (101/131) to 82% (107/131).In 1971, Gregory et al. published their important study showing that if infants with hyaline membrane disease (HMD) breathed spontaneously against a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) applied down an endotracheal tube or from a pressurized head-box, lung inflation improved and arterial oxygen tension (Pao,) increased. Since then various methods for applying CPAP have been devised, using a face mask (Rhodes and Hall, 1973), a plastic bag over the head (Barrie, 1973), and nasal cannulae (Kattwinkel et al., 1973;Caliumi-Pellegrini et al., 1974). Other authors (Chernick, and Vidyasagar, 1972)

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