Captopril and bronchial reactivity.

In order to assess the effect of captopril on bronchial reactivity, 16 consecutive patients with asthma and hypertension were randomized in a double-blind crossover study, with increasing doses of placebo or captopril for 4 week periods. Forced expiratory flow (FEV1) and a dose-response curve with methacholine (PD20) were measured before and after treatment . Effective control of hypertension was achieved in all patients on captopril (P less than 0.

[Munchausen syndrome and recurrent haematuria (author's transl)].

The authors report an exceptional case of a patient drawing blood from the veins and introducing it into the bladder via a straw. This psychiatric syndrome was discovered only after several hospitalisations, being considered as a conversion hysteria and favourably influenced by psychotherapy.

[Pheochromocytoma and sudden death (author's transl)].

Five cases of pheochromocytoma are described in which sudden death was the form of the initial clinical presentation in almost all of them. After a brief review on the history and the incidence of the tumor within the general population, diverse cases are analyzed from a clinical point of view and in relation to the data appeared in the literature. In the analysis of the symptoms emphasis is placed on the important psychomotor manifestations which are present in the majority of those patients and which causes serious difficulties in the initial diagnosis.