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A case of a pheochromocytoma with haemorrhagic necrosis resulting in signs of acute abdomen with shock is reported. Diagnosis of a ruptured adrenal tumor was made by CT scanning. Elevated urine and plasma catecholamines as well as histological examination of the removed tumor confirmed the clinical suspicion of pheochromocytoma. The patient made uneventful recovery and is asymptomatic 2 years after surgery. Ruptured pheochromocytoma as a cause of abdominal emergency is discussed in view of the existing literature.

The arterial pressure, the pulse frequency, the concentration of arterial natriuretic peptide (ANP), the aldosterone++ concentration and the plasma renin activity were determined in patients with primary hypertension after administration of furosemide in conditions of active assuming of erect position. The ANP concentration was lowered in that conditions both in the patients and in healthy subjects.

A short historical review of sphygmography and a description of the contour together with the genesis of the arterial pulse wave is given. An own procedure of quantitative analysis of the carotid sphygmogram is described. The scope of these investigations was an attempt to determine sphygmographic criteria for arterial distensibility, showing the degeneration of the arteries. First it is reported about the original technique of the carotid resonance electrosphygmography (CRESG), then the advantages resulting from long-term investigations (especially with arterial atheriosclerotic patients compared with normal subjects) are stressed. Secondly, the practical value of CRESG, substantiated with X-ray aortography, pathological findings and experiments on dogs is shown. In two groups (70 healthy subjects and 221 patients with reduced distensibility of the arterial wall) a significant correlation between PWV in the aorta and quantitative sphygmographic data could be shown. Thirdly, the usefulness of CRESG as a noninvasive method in the quantitative assessment of arterial damage is concluded especially for the case of atherosclerosis and hypertension. The further development of this original method in evaluating arterial ageing, the arterial changes in hypertensive patients and in different other pathological situations may promote a broader clinical application of CRESG.

Atrial natriuretic peptide concentrations (ANP) were determined in 4 patients with pheochromocytoma during its surgical removal. There was no correlation among ANP level, plasma catecholamines concentrations and blood pressure. Increase of plasma ANP concentration after tumor removal can be explained by simultaneously observed hypervolemia. It proves that ANP secretion mostly depends on enlarged central blood volume.

The paper deals with the application of carotid resonance electrosphygmography (CRESG) to primary arterial hypertension (PAH) and primary hyperlipoproteinaemia (PHLP). On a group of 145 patients with PAH (and a control group of 63 healthy persons) aged 20--50 years and on a group of 30 patients with PHLP (plus a control group of 43 healthy persons) aged 30--60 years, the records were taken bilaterally. In both groups significant quantitative differences in the sphygmograms were found which are indicative for reduced distensibility and indirectly for the degeneration of the arterial wall. It is concluded that an effective follow-up of the progress of degenerative changes can be made by CRESG.

The value of practolol in the treatment of angina pectoris was studied in three groups of patients by means of different methods. In 23 patients the effect of the drug was evaluated during long-term treatment and in 10 patients in a controlled double-blind trial; in 20 patients, the working capacity was determined by an ECG exercise test on a bicycle ergometer. Long-term treatment revealed advantageous effects of practolol on the incidence of anginal attacks and the number of nitroglycerin tablets consumed in daily life. There was also a noticeable improvement in the ECG. The results obtained in a double-blind trial, with placebo, proved the effectiveness of the drug. The treatment enabled the patients to lead appreciably more active lives. A marked increase in work performance, depending on the dose applied, was confirmed in exercise tolerance tests. No side-effects which would call for discontinuance of the treatment were seen during long-term administration with doses up to 800 mg daily.

The technique of CRESG secured on both arteries simultaneously is applied as a noninvasive diagnostic tool. A group of 42 persons (healthy and patients, 7 females and 35 males) aged 19--66 years was examined. In 14 of them X-ray angiography and in 5 of these 14 cases the additional surgical procedure confirmed the diagnosis. A difference of less than or equal to 10% between left and right upstroke time is shown in all subjects with decreased distensibility and signifies a generalized atherosclerotic process in all central arteries. Greater asymetry in bilateral CRESG is caused by a local more pronounced left/right arterial lesion. It is concluded that simultaneous left/right CRESG help to differentiate between generalized and localized arterial lesions.

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) activity was studied in 33 males with borderline and established essential hypertension. No significant differences of serum ANP concentration were stated in patients with borderline and established uncomplicated hypertension in comparison with the control group.