Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of schizophrenia was evaluated in a double-blind trial; the clinical change after ECT was compared with that after a treatment procedure identical to it but for two exceptions--no electricity was used and no convulsion was induced. All patients had paranoid schizophrenia according to Present State Examination criteria and all received standard doses of neuroleptics for at least 2 weeks before random assignment to the two groups. 20 patients completed the trial: 10 had ECT and 10 were in the control group. Treatment was given three times a week, with a minimum of eight treatments and a maximum of twelve. Clinical change was assessed by the Comprehensive Psychiatric Rating Scale. Both groups improved but the improvement of patients receiving ECT was significantly greater than that of controls both after six treatments (p=0.02) and at the end of treatment (p=0.004). Thus the group receiving ECT gained a clear and early advantage compared with the control group, although by 16 weeks there was little difference between the two groups. Possible reasons for this are discussed.

In a controlled blind study 28 patients with prominent chest disease by chest X-ray each had normal or equivocal findings by conventional methods of percussion. In each case the lung abnormality was readily detected by auscultatory percussion. Lesions less than 2 cm in diameter were detected.

Soluble aspirin was given by mouth in therapeutic doses in a double-blind trial to malnourished infants and young children with gastroenteritis and dehydration. Faecal fluid-losses were reduced and weight-grain was enhanced in the group given aspirin. These effects were statistically significant when compared with those obtained with a placebo preparation and in a group of patients given supportive therapy but no specific drug treatment. The results suggest that aspirin may be useful in reducing intestinal fluid-loss in childhood gastroenteritis. Before the widespread use of aspirin can be recommended, its effects in patients not under hospital supervision must be determined.

279 patients were treated with 100 mg trimethoprim or 100 mg trimethoprim combined with 500 mg sulphamethoxazole (co-trimoxazole) twice daily for 5 days in a prospective randomised double-blind trial. In chest infections in patients in general practice and in an acute geriatric assessment unit, the efficacy of each regimen was similar, but there were more side-effects with co-trimoxazole than with trimethoprim alone. In urinary-tract infections the two regimens also produced similar cure rates. Treatment with trimethoprim rarely selected resistant pathogens in the sputum or resistant Enterobacteriacae in the intestine, although the incidence of resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci on the skin increased with both regimens. Most chest and urinary infections hitherto treated with co-trimoxazole should be treated with trimethoprim alone.