In a study of 29 patients to observe untoward reactions to applications of ultrasound over the carotid sinus and stellate ganglion areas, it was noted that cough was evoked in five patients, premature ventricular systoles in three and a burning sensation of the skin at the point of treatment in five. No considerable effect on heart rate or blood pressure was observed.
Disuse osteoporosis was produced in dogs by immobilization of the left rear limb in a plaster cast. The trabecular bone volume of the calcaneus was then determined following treatment with 1 alpha,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol for 4 weeks with oral dosages of 60 to 240 ng/kg of body weight. The trabecular bone volume percentage of the immobilized calcaneus was in direct relation to the dosage of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol.
This report is of interest because it is the 13th instance of a pheochromocytoma associated with pregnancy that we have found in American and British literature. Although rare, this condition is of great importance because it is potentially curable and has been frequently incorrectly diagnosed. Pheochromocytomas are tumors of the adrenal medulla that may give rise to a clinical picture presenting several or all of the following symptoms: hypertension, headache, sweating, nausea and vomiting, palpitation, cardiac arrhythmias, epigastric pain, dyspnea and tachypnea, glycosuria, pulmonary edema, or shock. The hypertension may be constant or paroxysmal. Because of this picture, pheochromocytomas have masqueraded under the diagnoses of malignant hypertension, neurosis, brain tumor, and, as in our case, preeclampsia. REPORT OF A CASE This patient, a retired, white, army nurse, was in excellent health until the latter part of her first pregnancy in March, 1947, at which time she was 27 years old.
The effects of Ile,Ser-bradykinin (TK) on electrolyte secretion across mucosa of rat distal colon were determined and compared to those of bradykinin (BK). A segment of colon stripped of muscularis was mounted in an Ussing chamber for monitoring short-circuit current (Isc). Serosal application of TK and BK produced a concentration-dependent and transient increase in Isc with EC50(nM) values of 2.0 +/- 0.6 and 1.7 +/- 0.7, respectively. At a concentration of 1.0 microM, TK produced a maximal response of 130 +/- 18 compared to 75 +/- 13 microA/cm2 for BK. Increases in Isc induced by BK and TK were significantly (P less than .001) inhibited (90 +/- 4% for BK and 87 +/- 5% for TK) by serosal addition of bumetanide (10 microM). The lipoxygenase/cyclooxygenase inhibitor, eicosa-5,8,11,14-tetraynoic acid (0.1 mM), inhibited (P less than .01) the response to BK by 67 +/- 9% and to TK by 51 +/- 8%. Moreover, the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin (5.0 microM) significantly (P less than .05) inhibited the Isc response to 1.0 nM BK and 1.0 nM TK. Atropine (1.0 microM) did not block the effects of either kinin. Finally, the BK antagonist D-Arg0[Hyp3,Thi5,8,DPhe7]-bradykinin (2.0 microM) competitively antagonized the effect of BK and TK, shifting the concentration curve competitively to the right by 6-fold and 16-fold respectively. Another BK antagonist, [D-Phe7]-bradykinin (20 microM), also exhibited similar blockade effects. In this model, although some differences exist, BK and TK appear to act by the same mechanism, which may involve arachidonic acid metabolites.
