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The article reports on two cases of a typical necrosis of the head of the femur, known as "idiopathic necrosis of the femoral head". Hyperuricaemia was present in both cases. In the first female patient, scintigraphy showed accumulation of activity unilaterally in the region of the ankle joint without any pathological x-ray finding in that region. The necrosis of the head of the femur was atypically associated with a lateral narrowing of the joint space and apposition of the bones at the lateral joint edges. Angiography did not yield any abnormal finding in the hip joint. In the case of the second (male) patient, the necrosis of the femoral head was combined with diaphyseal osteonecrotic changes bilaterally, distal to the femoral shaft, and there was also a diffuse decalcification, not recorded so far, metaphyseally distal to the femoral shaft and proximal at the shaft of the tibia, reaching to the epiphyseal cicatrices. Hyperuricaemia was combined with hyperlipidaemia. In both patients, the hyperturicaemia dropped to normal levels under appropriate medication; in the second patient, this was also true of the hyperlipidaemia and hypercholesterolaemia. No further progress was seen from the time the blood levels had become normal.

A 66-year-old patient developed a retropneumoperitoneum and pneumomediastinum after a proctoscopy. Following the examination, which was done as an out patient, he had some pain but was able to reach home without difficulty. Radiography of the abdomen on the next day showed definite gas collection round the right kidney and below the middle of the diaphragm. The mediastinum showed some translucencies consistent with cranial spread of air from the retropneumoperitoneum; it was particularly marked round the aorta. The film also showed supraclavicular emphysema. After being placed supine the patient's symptoms rapidly disappeared. There were no complications and no treatment was necessary. The case is discussed in relation to the relevant literature.

Three cases were reported with craniocaudal shadow stripes (in part double but also irregular or arched) on chest films taken in a dorsal position. The cases were elderly patients with signs of cardiac and circulatory insufficiency. It was questioned whether the cause was an atelectatic rale of the inferior lobe as Haubrich assumes. The author's own hypothese were supported overagainst Haubrich's explanation.

Three patients unconscious when rescued from drowning had radiographic studies of their lungs carried out after several hours, or on the following day. The findings had to be interpreted as pulmonary oedema. The most seriously affected patient showed the picture of massive acute interstitial oedema on the second day. After initial regression, coarse shadows developed, indicating the alveolar form of pulmonary oedema. The sputum contained candida, but there was no evidence of pulmonary candidiasis. In two patients there were transient signs of limited atelectases. Two patients were re-examined after five years. There were no features which could be interpreted as a consequence of the drowning episode. The radiographic appearances showed minor changes which could be due to mild pulmonary fibrosis. Language: de