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A case of post-biopsy renal arteriovenous fistula causing high output cardiac failure was diagnosed one year after the start of maintenance hemodialysis, confirmed by radionuclide studies, and successfully treated with nephrectomy. Management was complicated by superimposed digitalis intoxication. It is suggested that the presence of the renal arteriovenous fistula might account for the accelerated deterioration in renal function observed in this patient. more...

The histologic changes which occur in the human adrenal cortex in conditions of stress are attributed to the liberation of endogenous corticotropin (ACTH). The effect of exogenous corticotropin on the adrenal gland is well known in animals, but only recently has it been possible to study the changes which take place in the human adrenal cortex as a result of such stimulation. Variations occur in lipid pattern, cytology, enzyme content and ribonucleic acid content of the cells. A comparison of the changes during stress with those found during administration of corticotropin forms the basis of this paper. more...

Chronic renal failure was induced in mice using bilateral electrocoagulation of the renal cortex. Thermal injury via an angled point cautery was applied to the fully exteriorized right kidney. Following a 10-day interval the left kidney was injured in a similar fashion. The incidence of local complications was negligible and because of the limited blood loss, very small laboratory animals can be used. By restricting trauma to varying proportions of the visible cortex graded levels of injury were obtained. Thus this model can produce a uniform pattern of renal failure and will therefore facilitate the acquisition of information on the biological consequences of chronic uraemia. more...

THE hydroxylation and secretion of steroids by the adrenal cortex has been studied extensively in animals (1, 2), and there is a marked species difference in the quantitative and qualitative nature of the secretion. The perfusion of surgically removed human adrenals with media containing adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) yielded only traces of cortisol 11β, 17α, 21-trihydroxy-4-pregnene-3, 20-dione) and corticosterone (11β, 21-dihydroxy-4-pregnene-3, 20-dione) (3), yet these are the principal substances obtained on perfusion of ox adrenals (4) and are two of the major steroids found in human adrenal venous blood. Pincus and Romanoff (5) isolated crystalline cortisol, corticosterone and 11β-hydroxy-4-androstene-3, 17-dione from human adrenal venous blood. Hudson and Lombardo (6) observed wide variations in the amount of cortisol and corticosterone in the adrenal venous blood of 3 women with breast cancer. When corticotropin (ACTH) was administered to 1 of these patients during the collection of blood the ... more...

A patient is described who passed from a clinical state consistent with Hashimoto's thyroiditis to Riedel's thyroiditis over a period of 6 months. Serum levels of thyroid antibodies were high and there was a family history of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. A good therapeutic response to steroids was observed but these were without effect in a further patient with Riedel's thyroiditis of 10 years' duration. It is suggested that Riedel's thyroiditis is an uncommon variant of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. more...