OBSERVATIONS ON PITUITARY-ADRENAL RESPONSE TO EPINEPHRINE

[摘要] The eosinophil depression test used as a test for normally functioning anterior lobe of the pituitary gland and adrenal gland cortex in response to stress is consistent and valid in infants and children.The pituitary-adrenal stress mechanism as judged by the eosinophil depression test appears to be well developed in the full term infant at birth. Newborn term infants showed normal responses.Premature infants with few exceptions failed to show a normal response to the test, indicating an immaturity in their resistance to stress as mediated by the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland and adrenal cortex.Older infants and children responded normally in 12 of 14 cases. Of the two exceptions, one was a child with eczema who had an intense eosinophilia and the other a child with diabetes insipidus.Many clinicians have long held the belief that adrenal cortical hormones should be given to premature infants who do not respond to routine care or who are subjected to infection, operation or other conditions of unusual stress. There is a need for further study of the therapeutic value of adrenal cortical hormones in premature infants with inadequacy of resistance to stress.

[学科分类] 儿科学