Prinzmetal's variant angina. Coronary arteriogram and left ventriculogram during angina attack induced by methacholine

Recently, in Prinzmetal's variant angina, many cases with normal coronary arteries have been reported. The anginal attacks frequently relapse after aortocoronary bypass grafting. It is frequently possible to induce an anginal attack by parasympathomimetic agents such as methacholine and pilocarpine. In this study, methacholine (0.13 mg per kilogram) was injected subcutaneously in three cases of this disease to induce an angina attack, and coronary arteriograms and left ventriculograms were recorded. In all cases a coronary arterial spasm corresponding to the site of the ST-segment elevation in the electrocardiogram was observed. Complete occlusion due to the spasm was observed even in the normal coronary artery. Asynergy was seen in the left ventricular wall corresponding to the site of the ST-segment elevation in the electrocardiogram.

Teratogenicities of ophthalmic drugs. I. Antiviral ophthalmic drugs

Nonradioactive idoxuridine (IDU,5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine), while not teratogenic to rats, does produce fetal maliformations in rabbits when administered topically to the eye in doses similar to those used clinically, 0.1% four times a day for 12 days. These maliformations include exophthalmos and clubbing of the forelegs. By contrast, trifluorothymidine (F3TdR), another highly effective antiherpetic agent currently under investigation but not available for general use, was found not to be teratogenic to rabbits, even when given in concentrations tenfold greater than the doses used to produce idoxuridine teratogenicity.