THE EFFECT OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF HYPERTONIC SALT SOLUTION ON THE BLOOD VOLUME AND CERTAIN RELATED BLOOD CONSTITUENTS

INTRODUCTION  Weed and McKibben¹ demonstrated that the intravenous administration of hypertonic salt solution to animals was attended by a decrease in the size of the brain and a fall in cerebrospinal pressure. These results were soon applied to patients by Cushing and Foley,² Sachs and Belcher³ and others.⁴ The usual intravenous dose was 100 c.c. 15 per cent. sodium chlorid solution (in some instances 30 per cent. ). As a result of these injections cerebral herniae often disappeared or were much diminished, the swollen brain decreased in size so that operations on it could be performed more easily, and the elevated cerebrospinal pressure of patients with brain tumor was usually reduced promptly. The effects were, in general, so satisfactory that the adoption of intravenous hypertonic salt solution as a valuable therapeutic measure appeared likely. With these facts in mind, it seemed to us desirable to ascertain what alterations took place