A multicentre comparison of clindamycin and metronidazole in the treatment of anaerobic infections.

One hundred and seventy patients with intra-abdominal infection with non-sporing anaerobes were prospectively studied in an international multicentre study. Patients were randomly allocated to treatment with clindamycin or metronidazole, for a minimum of 48 h to a maximum of 7 days. Other antimicrobial therapy was permitted if indicated by in vitro susceptibility testing. The commonest infections were peritonitis, intra-abdominal abscesses and appendicitis (72 cases), colorectal carcinoma (23 cases), intestinal perforation (16 cases) and diverticulitis (13 cases). Thirty patients received no other antimicrobial chemotherapy and in a further 94 patients, an aminoglycoside was given in addition to the study drugs. In 38 patients the infection required no surgical intervention. Appendicectomy was commonly performed and surgical drainage of pus was required in 14 patients. These variables were evenly distributed between the treatment groups. Both clindamycin and metronidazole were found to be effective therapy for anaerobic infections and were well tolerated. Of the 9 deaths in the study, 7 were in the clindamycin group, and 2 in the metronidazole group. The study protocol allowed patients who were responding poorly to treatment to be crossed over to the alternative therapy. This procedure was followed in 6 patients, 5 of whom were originally receiving clindamycin. It is concluded that metronidazole is as effective for anaerobic infections as clindamycin.

The suppression of puerperal lactation with bromocryptine.

The therapeutic value of 2-Br-alpha-ergocryptine for the suppression of puerperal lactation was studied in 30 normal women; 16 received the drug, 14 were controls. In six women plasma levels of FSH, oestradiol and alpha-lactalbulmin were measured in labour and in the early puerperium. Brom-ergocryptine was found effectively to suppress milk production and alleviate breast pain and congestion, with no side effects and minimum rebound lactation. The inverse relationship between prolactin and FSH levels reported elsewhere in non-pregnant women did not appear to occur in the early postpartum period. Although there was a significant rise in alpha-lactalbumin levels in labour and the puerperium over non-pregnant levels, there was no difference between lactating and non-lactating women.

Biochemical response of late rickets and osteomalacia to a chupatty-free diet.

Eight Pakistani children with late rickets and two Pakistani women with osteomalacia were given a chupatty-free diet for seven weeks, substituting leavened bread of lower extraction. On this diet serum calcium levels rose to normal or near normal, levels of serum inorganic phosphorus rose slightly but significantly, and serum alkaline phosphatase levels showed a definite rise indicative of healing bone disease. It is concluded that the high phytate content of unleavened bread is the major cause of late rickets and osteomalacia in Pakistani and Indian communities in the United Kingdom. The simplest prophylactic measure seems to be the additional fortification with calcium carbonate of the high extraction flour used in preparing unleavened bread.

Rickets and osteomalacia in the Glasgow Pakistani community, 1961-71.

The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was reassessed in April and May 1971, 10 years after the discovery of widespread late rickets and osteomalacia in the Glasgow Pakistani community. Evidence of vitamin D deficiency was found in 28 out of 115 adults and children examined (24%). Children at the age of puberty were most severely affected by rickets, whereas most infants and younger children in the survey were protected by vitamin D supplements. Mild biochemical osteomalacia was common in Pakistani women.A total of 21 Pakistani and Indian children with rickets were admitted to Glasgow hospitals during 1968-70. These comprised 10 children with infantile rickets and 11 with late rickets. Four of the latter group required osteotomy for severe rachitic deformity.Late rickets and osteomalacia in Pakistani and Indian immigrants are not primarily due to nutritional deficiency of vitamin D, though the high phytate content of their diet may be of aetiological importance. A combination of environmental, social, and endogenous factors, the relative importance of which is not at present clear, may also be involved. Advice on the prophylaxis of vitamin D deficiency should be given to all Pakistani and Indian communities in the United Kingdom.