Aldosterone--A new therapeutic principle for the treatment of brain oedema in man.

A total of 47 neurosurgical patients with brain tumours have been studied. Twenty of them were not specifically treated for brain oedema before the operation and are being regarded as controls. In the other 27 patients aldosterone was given pre- and postoperatively for several days in a dose of 2×5 mg per day. During the operation, tissue samples from the vicinity of the tumour, including cortex and white matter, were removed and subjected to analysis of the following: water content, electrolytes (Na, K) and labile metabolites (CP, ATP, ADP, AMP, Pyr., Lact.). When comparing the two groups, a reduction of water content was found in the aldosterone group with a statistical significance at p 0.005. Na was at lower values in both brain compartments in the treated group, whereas K was found to be slightly elevated above the level of the controls. Metabolites showed only minor changes when the 2 groups were compared. From the clinical point of view, patients responded favourably to aldosterone therapy. In no case did treatment with aldosterone result in untoward side effects.