To the Editor:—
The editorial (May 12, p. 144) on "Intravenous Alcohol Anesthesia as Used in Russia" and other recent work (Moore, Daniel C., and Karp, Mary: Intravenous Alcohol in the Surgical Patient, Surg., Gyncc. & Obst.80:523 [May] 1945) suggest another revival of interest in alcohol as an anesthetic agent. It seems in order, therefore, to call attention again to a poorly understood and, in my opinion, not widely known relationship between alcohol and acute (as well as chronic) pancreatic necrosis (Weiner, H. A., and Tennant, Robert: A Statistical Study of Acute Hemorrhagic Pancreatitis, Am. J. M. Sc.196:167 [Aug.] 1938). Statistically, the relationship is clearcut, though unimpressive in view of world alcohol consumption figures. Occasionally it is dramatic and unforgettable.