834 SERUM THERAPY 



After the delivery of the child the cord is sponged with bichlorid solu- 

 tion, cut, and the maternal end bled into a sterile, wide-mouthed flask. 

 This is placed in the refrigerator until there is complete separation of 

 serum. In pipeting off the serum due care must be exercised not to 

 include corpuscles. If the serum is not perfectly clear, it should be 

 centrifuged with aseptic precautions. It is well to have each serum 

 tested by the Wassermann reaction and 1 c.c. cultured in 100 c.c. of 

 glucose bouillon to test its sterility. The serum is then preserved in 

 bottles or vials, with the addition of two drops of 5 per cent, phenol to 

 each 10 c.c. of serum. 



NORMAL SERUM IN THE TREATMENT OF SKIN DISEASES 

 In addition to the good results obtained in the treatment of general 

 pruritus of pregnancy with normal serum, Linser, x Hench, 2 and Prsetorius 3 

 have had favorable results from injections of normal human serum or 

 horse serum in the treatment of urticarial and chronic obstinate itching 

 affections, especially senile pruritus, and also in malignant pemphigus. 

 Even better results have been observed in the treatment of pemphigus, 

 psoriasis, and other skin diseases by injections of the patient's own serum. 

 This subject will be referred to further on. 



Mention may also be made of the results observed in the treatment 

 of acute and chronic nephritis by injections of blood-serum from the 

 renal vein of the goat, dog, or sheep. Teissier 4 was probably the first 

 to apply this form of therapy, and reports favorable results in the treat- 

 ment of seven cases. Spillman, 5 Bisso, 6 and Dominquez 7 have also 

 published favorable reports. The treatment is based upon the assump- 

 tion that the blood in the renal vein contains some of the internal secre- 

 tion of the kidney, which acts favorably upon the liver and emunctories 

 in general. This method of treatment has been advocated by the pre- 

 viously mentioned observers in the acute exacerbations of chronic 

 nephritis, in acute or chronic nephritis with threatening uremia, and in 

 arterial hypertension presumably of renal origin. Amounts of serum 

 ranging from 10 to 50 c.c. have been injected subcutaneously, and re- 

 peated on several days or every other day until several doses have been 

 given. 



1 Dermat. Wochenschr., March 30, 1912. 



2 Munch, med. Wochenschr., 1913, lix, No. 48. 



3 Munch, med. Wochenschr., 1913, Ix, No. 16. 



4 Bull, de 1'Acad. de Med., 1908, Ixxii, No. 31. 



5 La Presse Medicale, 1909, xvii, No. 86. 



6 Semana Med., Buenos Aires, 1912, xix, No. 7. 



7 Rev. de Med. y Cir., Havana, 1913, xvii, No. 24. 



