Ross R. Bailey

1. Eight patients with chronic renal failure (creatinine clearance 4·9–22·0 ml/min) were given 75–150 ml of aluminium hydroxide gel (‘Aludrox’) daily for 20–32 days. 2. In all patients there was a decrease in plasma phosphorus. The phosphorus balance became more negative in four and less positive in one, remained unchanged in two, and became positive in one. 3. Patients absorbed 100–568 mg of aluminium daily. In two of three patients the content of aluminium in the iliac bone increased but not above normal values. 4. The concentration of parathyroid hormone was decreased by aluminium hydroxide therapy in three patients in whom there was an increase in plasma calcium and in one other patient in whom plasma calcium did not change.

31 patients with a urinary infection were treated with a single oral dose (3 g for adults and 100 mg/kg for children) of amoxycillin; 23 (74%) were cured. 20 women and 26 children were then randomly allocated to either a single dose of amoxycillin or a 5- to 7-day conventional course of the same antibiotic. The results of both treatment regimens were comparable. Single-dose therapy for the treatment of urinary-tract infections was simple, effective and well tolerated. Patients preferred taking their treatment in this manner. Failure of single-dose therapy to eradicate bacteriuria may indicate which patients require subsequent investigations of their urinary tract.

Complex segregation analysis was applied to data from 88 families containing at least one person with vesicoureteric reflux. Analysis showed that a single major locus was the most important causal factor in this condition, with the mutant allele being dominant to the normal allele and having a gene frequency of about 0.16%. Forty-five percent of gene carriers will have vesicoureteric reflux and/or reflux nephropathy as adults and 15% will develop renal failure, compared to 0.05% and 0.001%, respectively, for those not carrying the gene. This analysis confirms the importance of screening close relatives of persons with proven vesicoureteric reflux or reflux nephropathy.