Pituitary Gland Implantation for Chronic Arthritis.
—Some 100 patients with chronic arthritis have recently been treated at the Rheumatic Hospital in Lund by implantation of the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland. At a recent meeting of the Swedish Society of Internal Medicine, Drs. Gunnar Edström and Stig Thune gave an account of their technique and results. The heads of recently slaughtered calves and pigs were rushed to the hospital, where they were dissected out with aseptic precautions. The anterior lobes were ready for implantation about a half hour after the animals' death. Two or three of the lobes were introduced into the gluteal muscles or muscles of the patient's thigh through a 1.5 to 2 cm. long incision made in the skin under local anesthesia, the opening being closed by suture of the skin. Clinical response, when there was one, was prompt, the patient's range of movements being improved