The Use of Salyrgan in Edema

At least two years before the opening of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in 1913, a keen interest had been shown in the problem of diuretics by Dr. Christian and those of us who were then associated with him. This interest has continued ever since. The results of our experimental and clinical investigations in those earliest days was the principle that diuretics as such were not only useless in nephritis but were for the most part harmful and therefore contraindicated. A few years later much clinical work was done with some of the newer xanthine diuretics, especially theophylline. It was found in "cardiorenal disease" that, after the use of digitalis followed by theophylline or a similar diuretic, there was usually an outpouring of much urine, with loss of edema and a relatively marked loss in weight. Dr. Christian proposed this diuretic effect of theophylline as a therapeutic test in cardiac