CLINICAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE PORTABLE ELECTROMAGNETIC BALLISTOCARDIOGRAPH

The purpose of ballistocardiography is to obtain a rough objective measurement of the strength of the heart beat. Recordings have been made with a portable electromagnetic instrument on 225 persons, some normal, others with many kinds of cardiovascular disease, to determine the usefulness of the ballistocardiograph. Tracings were made at certain stages of respiration at rest and after exercise.The ballistocardiograph can in some cases be the principal diagnostic instrument in distinguishing cardiac from extracardiac disease, in the early detection of coronary artery disease, and in the diagnosis of myocarditis. It also may aid in the diagnosis of high output failure, pericardial effusion, nicotine sensitivity and coarctation or other occlusive disease of the aorta.     

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE WITH CHLORPROPAMIDE

Seventy-eight patients with mild diabetes were treated with chlorpropamide in doses up to 1 gm. daily. Eight showed primary failure to respond and two showed an initial but not a sustained response. Patients whose diabetes was of recent onset and who had not been treated with insulin or a sulfonylurea, required smaller doses than the remainder except for a group of patients who had been diabetic for more than 15 years.The average dose for the 64 patients who took chlorpropamide for more than three months was 0.46 gm. per day. Serious side effects were uncommon and disappeared when the drug was stopped. One patient became jaundiced, one had a rash, and one showed granulocytopenia. Changes in liver function tests were seen in 17 out of 56 patients treated for more than three months and were correlated with the dosage of the drug and the duration of treatment.     

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE WITH FLUETHER ANESTHESIA

Fluether, an azeotropic mixture of two volumes of Fluothane® and one volume of diethyl ether, will provide satisfactory surgical anesthesia in a range of vapor concentration from 0.5 per cent v/v to 4.0 per cent v/v. The agent was used in all age groups and in all patient physical states in approximately a thousand cases.To date there have appeared no contraindications to the use of fluether anesthesia.Bradycardia is common during induction but is easily reversible by use of belladonna compounds.During maintenance of anesthesia, significant muscular relaxation is provided, without evidence of electrocortical depression.Respiratory depression accompanies a maintenance level of anesthesia.Recovery after anesthesia with fluether is rapid but tranquil. Considerable analgesia persists during recovery.