Simon Bar-Meir

Diverticulitis in the young is not more aggressive than in the elderly, but it tends to recur more often: systematic review and meta-analysis.

For years, the natural course of diverticulitis in the young has been debatable in terms of its severity and recurrence rate, and no consensus has been reached regarding its treatment and timing of surgery. Thus, the study aims to evaluate by meta‐analysis the natural course of acute diverticulitis in the young.

Band Keratopathy Due to Hyperparathyroidism

A patient with hyperparathyroidism and corneal calcifications is reported. The calcifications appeared following phosphate treatment and persisted for 31/2 years, despite local instillation of EDTA. Local application of EDTA after mechanical removal of the corneal epithelium completely eliminated the corneal deposits.

Orthophosphate Treatment of Calcium Lithiasis Associated with Idiopathic Hypercalciuria

Oral orthophosphate treatment was given to 33 subjects with idiopathic hypercalciuria, 28 of them with calcium salt lithiasis. A decrease in urinary calcium excretion was observed in 31 of the subjects. The treatment appeared clinically beneficial in 8 out of 11 patients with metabolically active stone disease. Indications and contraindications to oral orthophosphate treatment are discussed.

Ergotamine-induced venous thrombosis.

A patient is described who developed venous thrombosis in the leg following an intramuscular injection of ergotamine tartrate.

The effect of chronic captopril administration on hepatic blood flow of the rat

Abstract— The effect of chronic captopril administration on indocyanine green (ICG) clearance and hepatic extraction has been studied in the rat using the intact liver for ICG clearance and the isolated perfused liver for ICG extraction. The captopril was added to the drinking water to give a calculated daily intake from 0–45 mg kg−1. Hepatic clearance of ICG was dose related from 16.5 ± 2.4 (control) to 7.2 ± 1.6 mL min−1. kg−1, respectively. The hepatic extraction of ICG was not significantly different (37 ± 6%) from the control value in groups on 4 and 45 mg kg−1 daily. Since ICG clearance and extraction are dependent on hepatic blood, a change in ICG clearance without a change in the extraction reflects a similar change in the hepatic blood flow. This remained unchanged at daily captopril intakes of 1 and 4 mg kg−1 and decreased when the daily intake was 10 mg kg−1 or higher. If these results in the rat are applicable to man, the chronic administration of therapeutic doses of captopril (0.5‐2 mg kg−1) will not affect the hepatic blood flow.

Treatment of Cystine Lithiasis by Alkalinization and D-Penicillamine

Cystine stone formation is a common development in cystinuric subjects. mainly in homozygotes (1). Hydromechanic disturbance and recurrent urinary tract infection are frequent in patients with cystine lithiasis and often lead to renal failure (2). Since preventive treatment has shown to be feasible (3). early diagnosis of cystine lithiasis. based upon detection of cystinuria and demonstration of cystine as the main stone component, is of the utmost importance. In the present communication we report our experience with treatment by alkalinization and d-penicillamine in a large series of cystine lithiatic patients with prolonged follow-up.