Primary hypertrophic colonopathy

We report a 45-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman who presented with features of intermittent intestinal obstruction. Barium enema revealed narrowing at the pelvic-rectal junction in the man, and from the pelvic colon to the anal verge in the woman. Histology of the resected sections showed marked hypertrophy of the muscularis propria in both cases, with normal mucosa, submucosa and myenteric plexus. Both patients are asymptomatic at 4 years' and 2 years' follow up. This entity of primary hypertrophic colonopathy may be a variant of primary visceral myopathy.

Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia

Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia is a rare form of monoclonal plasma cell dyscrasia in which there is excess production of immunoglobulin M. Clinically the patient has features of hyperviscosity syndrome and the effects of bone marrow replacement by lympho-plasmacytoid cells. We report here two such cases seen within a period of two months.

Clinical evaluation of perhexiline maleate in patients with angina pectoris

This paper reports a double-blind trial of a new antianginal drug, perhexiline. Fifty-five patients suffering from angina pectoris were studied for periods of 12 or 24 weeks in a cross-over comparison against a placebo in four centres in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Perhexiline was effective in most patients as judged by reducing the number of anginal attacks in 84% and the consumption of glyceryl trinitrate tablets in 64%. The major side effect, dizziness, noted in one-third of the patients, may be dose/body-weight related. Perhexiline is a valuable new agent for the treatment of patients with angina, especially those who do not respond to other antianginal agents.