436 



VICTOR C. MYERS 



CONDITIONS WITH SIGNIFICANT UKEA NITROGEN FINDINGS 



tions, although in the last mentioned this is probably due to renal com- 

 plications. In uncomplicated cases of prostatic obstruction the findings 

 do not appear to much exceed 20 mg. urea nitrogen. A slight retention 

 is frequently noted in gastric and duodenal ulcer, possibly for the same 

 reason that retention is found in intestinal obstruction. Advanced cases 

 of diabetes frequently show definitely high figures, apparently due in some 

 instances to the high protein diet, in others to a complicating nephritis. 

 The fact that a normal urea is associated with a high uric acid is of prac- 

 tical value in cases of gout not complicated by nephritis. In normal preg- 

 nancy, the findings for urea nitrogen are, strangely enough, subnormal, 

 figures between 5 and 9 having been observed. In eclampsia the urea is 

 generally subnormal, but the non-protein nitrogen is increased and the uric 

 acid is generally quite high. 



Since urea is largely of exogenous origin, while creatinin is endogenous, 

 it is subject to much greater variation, especially under dietary influences. 

 It is of less prognostic value than the creatinin in advanced cases of neph- 

 ritis, but a much better guide as to the value of the treatment. In cases 

 of prostatic obstruction the urea is an excellent preoperative prog- 

 nostic test, much better than the creatinin, for the reason that cases show- 

 ing creatinin retention already show sufficient urea retention to makt 

 them very poor risks. The renal factor can be disregarded when the 

 urea nitrogen is 20 mg. or under, the patient operated on with cau- 

 tion between 20 and 30, while with figures over 30 the outlook is un- 



