Determining serum bicarbonate; a simple syringe titrator and colorimeter

The use of a tuberculin syringe as a burette has made possible an easy bedside technique for the determination of serum bicarbonate. By combining it with the use of a simple colorimeter, a relatively untrained person can do numerous bicarbonate determinations with a high degree of accuracy. The same technique also lends itself to other colorimetric clinical procedures such as determination of gastric acidity.     

Autopsy reports of pulmonary carcinoma; survey in Los Angeles County Hospital for 1951

Of the 1,972 deaths investigated by autopsy at the Los Angeles County Hospital in 1951, 64 were attributed to bronchogenic carcinoma. However, in some of these cases the protocols did not contain sufficient data to substantiate the diagnosis or the tissue specimens were not conclusive evidence. Although the survey left no doubt that the lung was the most common site of primary carcinoma in the series studied, a wider application of the findings is limited by the facts that patients with bronchogenic carcinoma are more likely than others to die in hospitals and that selection of cases for autopsy depends on the interest of the physician and the consent of the patient's survivors.     

Multiple sclerosis; its frequency and distribution,with special reference to San Francisco

Epidemiologic surveys of multiple sclerosis were conducted in 1949 in San Francisco, Winnipeg, Boston, New Orleans, and Denver. Reports of cases for 1939 through 1948 were obtained from record offices, hospitals and clinics, and private physicians. The basis for the observations was the group of "probable" cases among residents. In San Francisco these probable cases in residents numbered 415; however, in only 146 of these was the onset between 1939 and 1948. Of the 143 patients who were white, 51 were male and 92 female. The average annual incidence based on these figures was 2.1 per 100,000-1.5 for males and 2.6 for females.Prevalence, based on probable cases in residents on January 1, 1949, was 29.7 cases per 100,000 population-21.2 for males and 38.1 for females. Mortality was 0.7 per 100,000 population-0.9 for females and 0.6 for males. In comparison of the findings for San Francisco with those of other cities, both the incidence and the severity of the disease appear to decrease from north to south.