Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone as a Plasma Expander

POLYVINYL pyrrolidone (P. V. P., Periston or Kollidon), was proposed in 1940 as an effective nontoxic plasma substitute.¶ It is a synthetic, water-soluble, macromolecular polymer, dissolved in buffered physiologic saline solution in a concentration of 3.5 per cent, so as to be nearly isotonic and iso-oncotic with normal plasma (osmotic pressure equivalent to 400 to 450 mm. of water). It was administered to large numbers of soldiers and civilians during the ensuing war years in Germany and since then in other European countries and in the United States. All early reports agreed that it was effective in the treatment of . . .