The effect of metoprolol on mortality was compared with that of placebo in a double blind randomised trial in patients with definite or suspected acute myocardial infarction. Treatment with metoprolol or placebo started as soon as possible after the patient's arrival in hospital and was continued for 90 days. Metoprolol was given as a 15 mg intravenous dose followed by oral administration of 100 mg twice daily. 1395 patients (697 on placebo and 698 on metoprolol) were included in the trial. Definite acute myocardial infarction developed in 809 and probable infarction in 162. Patients were allocated to various risk groups and within each group patients were randomly assigned to treatment with metoprolol or placebo. There were 62 deaths in the placebo group (8.9%) and 40 deaths in the metoprolol group (5.7%), a reduction of 36% (p less than 0.03). Mortality rates are given according to the treatment group to which the patients were initially randomly allocated.

64 healthy infants 2-3 months old, were randomly assigned to one of three vaccination groups which received either diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) vaccine, Haemophilus influenzae type b capsular polysaccharide polyribosyl-ribitol phosphate (PRP) vaccine, or PRP + P (with pertussis adjuvant) vaccine in three doses at intervals of 2 months. Local and systemic reactions occurred most frequently after DPT vaccination and least frequently for PRP alone. Data for 60 infants from whom complete sera sets were available indicated that 70% of the infants who received three doses of PRP + P showed 2-fold or greater increases in titres of antibody to PRP with final values above the level assumed to give protection against invasive H. influenzae type b disease (greater than or equal to 0.15 microgram/ml). In contrast, less than 10% of the infants who received PRP vaccine alone showed 2-fold or greater increases.

A new device for the administration of bronchodilators to asthmatics by nebulisation has been developed. Nebuliser therapy, in many patients more effective than other forms of drug delivery, has been limited by the need to provide patients with units driven by compressed air. Solutions can be nebulised by contact with a rapidly spinning horizontal disc. Adaptation of this method to a small nebuliser for clinical use is difficult, since a constant delivery of fluid the centre of the disc is necessary. The problem has been overcome in the new device in which the disc spins vertically in a reservoir. The performance of the prototype device was compared with that of a conventional compressed air nebuliser. The improvement is spirometry values of 8 asthmatic patients was similar for both nebulisers.

Since January, 1976, male patients undergoing elective unilateral inguinal herniorrhaphy have been included in a trial to see whether early return to normal activity is associated with an increased recurrence rate and to investigate economic consequences. By June, 1981, 500 patients had been reviewed at one year. 2 patients had defaulted. The first 200 patients had been examined at one year and three years. Recurrence was assessed independently, and recurrences were found of which the patient was unaware. The acceptable definition of recurrence was need for reoperation or a truss. The overall recurrence rate at one year was 3.9%. At three years no further recurrences were detected in the first 200 patients. There was no difference in the recurrence rate for those in the "early" group with 8 recurrences in a total of 246 patients and 10 recurrences in 245 patients in the control group. the median inactivity period in the "early" group was 48 days, compared with 65 days in the control. This differences of 17 days is significant (p=0.001). The self-employed "early" group returned to work in a median of 31 days. One-third of workers were losing a median of pounds 31 per week (range pounds 3- pounds 200). Patients can return to normal activity sooner after inguinal herniorrhaphy than has been advised without increasing the recurrence rate at one year and three years and with considerable monetary benefit to one-third of workers.

Of 138 children who had a first febrile convulsion before their second birthday, 48 were treated with phenobarbitone, 47 with phenytoin, and 43 with a placebo for 12 months. Drug levels were monitored and adverse effects of the drugs were noted. Compared with placebo, phenobarbitone significantly reduced recurrences among children under 14 months old at the time of their first convulsion, but nor among older children. Phenytoin was an ineffective prophylactic agent. Ideal drug levels were difficult to maintain, and many recurrences occurred when concentrations were suboptimal. Behavioural disturbance in children taking phenobarbitone was not a serious problem. The decision to give continuous prophylaxis for febrile convulsions is complex, and each case must be judged on its merits. For children who have a first seizure before 14 months of age prophylaxis may be advisable and phenobarbitone is effective.

Participants in the Medical Research Council treatment trial for mild hypertension are randomly allocated to one of four treatment groups: bendrofluazide, propranolol, or a placebo for either of these drugs. The trial is single-blind. 23 582 patient-years of observation have been completed so far, 10 684 on active drugs and 12 898 on placebos. The results show an association between bendrofluazide treatment and impotence, and impotence also occurred more frequently in patients taking propranolol than in those taking placebos. Other adverse reactions significantly linked with active drugs include impaired glucose tolerance in men and women and gout in men, associated with bendrofluazide treatment, and Raynaud's phenomenon and dyspnoea in men and women taking propranolol. No corneal disease is known to have occurred in the propranolol group. Mean serum potassium level fell, and urea and uric acid levels rose, in men and women taking bendrofluazide. In the propranolol group, serum potassium and uric acid levels rose in both sexes, but the urea level rose significantly in women only.

Four drug regimens for treating onchocerciasis were compared in a double-blind study in persons from an endemic area in southern Mexico. 40 men were randomly assigned to receive either diethylcarbamazine (DEC) (200 mg/day), mebendazole (2 g/day), levamisole (150 mg per week), or mebendazole plus levamisole. DEC produced the most rapid fall in skin microfilaria counts, but by 6 months the two groups receiving mebendazole showed similar or slightly greater reductions. Despite the administration of corticosteroids to persons receiving DEC, more systemic side-effects were seen in this group. Ocular complications were also commoner and more severe in those receiving DEC. The reduction in the number of intraocular microfilariae at 6 months was similar to those receiving DEC and mebendazole, alone or in combination with levamisole. Levamisole alone had no significant effect on microfilaria counts. Examination of adult worms in nodules excised at 2 months showed changes suggestive of an interruption of embryogenesis in those persons receiving the mebendazole-containing regimens only. The findings suggest that mebendazole may be a useful alternative to DEC in the treatment of onchocerciasis.