This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by THOMPSON, J. E. Articles by SMITHWICK, R. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by THOMPSON, J. E. Articles by SMITHWICK, R. H.

(Circulation. 1954;10:912.)
© 1954 American Heart Association, Inc.

---

The Effect of Acute Salt Loads on the Urinary Sodium Output of Normotensive and Hypertensive Patients before and after Surgery

JESSE E. THOMPSON M.D.¹; THOMAS F. SILVA M.D.¹; DERA KINSEY M.D.¹; REGINALD H. SMITHWICK M.D.¹

¹ From the Departments of Surgery, Boston University School of Medicine and Massachusetts Memorial Hospitals, Boston, Mass.

Under the stress of acute hypertonic salt loading, hypertensives excrete sodium at a much greater rate than normotensives. Immediately following splanchnicectomy, sodium excretion is markedly reduced in the hypertensive, but after several months it returns toward preoperative levels. There appears to be a rough correlation between maximum rate of sodium excretion and mean blood pressure. Normotensives by contrast exhibit insignificant differences pre- and postoperatively.