AUTOSERUM THERAPY 843 



advisable to withdraw fluid into an equal volume of 2 per cent, sodium 

 citrate in normal salt solution, heat at 60 C. for one-half to one hour, 

 and preserve in a sterile container with the addition of a few drops of 5 

 per cent, phenol until ready for subcutaneous injection in doses of from 

 2 to 5 c.c. 



It would appear, therefore, that reintroduction into the body of 

 fluids obtained from the serous cavities (pleural, peritoneal) of tuber- 

 culous patients may be of value in treatment, and, as a general rule, the 

 earlier in the course of the disease that the autoserum therapy is prac- 

 tised, the better will the results be. A similar treatment may be car- 

 ried out in the subacute or chronic forms of tuberculous meningitis. 

 Fluid is to be collected in sodium citrate solution, heated, and preserved 

 with phenol, as just described. The dose may vary from 0.5 to 2 c.c., 

 according to age and clinical conditions. 



AUTOSERUM IN THE TREATMENT OF NON-TUBERCULOUS EFFUSIONS 

 In pleural and peritoneal effusions of renal, cardiac, or hepatic origin, 

 this method of autotherapy has generally failed. 



Following the apparent success of Hodenpyl 1 in the treatment of a 

 case of cancer with injections of the patient's ascitic fluid, the autopsy 

 subsequently showing the presence of metastatic cancer not demon- 

 strable during life, Risely 2 treated 65 cases of cancer with ascitic fluids 

 obtained from cancer patients in all stages of the disease, and also with 

 various normal and abnormal body fluids from other than cancerous 

 conditions. None of these various transudates was found to exert any 

 effect in retarding the growth of cancer in mice, and while in a small per- 

 centage of cases large doses of ascitic fluid of cancerous origin may re- 

 lieve pain and retard the growth of the cancer for from one to five 

 months, no permanent effects, either preventing or checking the dis- 

 ease, were apparent. 



Leavy and Hastings 8 and Carter 4 have drawn attention to the ap- 

 parent improvement in marasmic infants following the daily injection, 

 for a number of doses, of an ounce of sterile ascitic fluid (the result of 

 cardiac or renal disease) into the subcutaneous tissues of the gluteal 

 region or abdominal wall. As these fluids are non-toxic, reinjection is a 

 justifiable procedure after the fluids have been subjected to the Wasser- 

 mann reaction and to careful cultural and animal injection tests to prove 

 their sterility. 



1 Med. Rec., 1910, Ixxvii, 359. 2 Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., 1911, Ivi, 1383. 



3 Bost. Med. and Surg. Jour., 1910, clxiii, 293. 



4 Amer. Jour. Med. Sci., 1911, cxlii, 241. 



