Dr. Eugene F. Du Bois:
It was only ten or fifteen years ago that there were large numbers of patients in medical wards with extreme grades of edema. They presented a distressing picture. Treatment was most unsatisfactory. Nowadays such patients are relatively few, thanks to the various studies in physiology, biology, chemistry, pharmacology and clinical medicine. Dr. Milhorat will begin the discussion.
Dr. A. T. Milhorat:
Edema is a symptom and sign, not a disease. Various and diverse are the factors which can bring it about. Some of these factors are still obscure but many of them are now fairly well known, such as the role of blood proteins, of the pH of the tissues and of potassium and sodium ions, and the effect of salt on the osmotic pressure of proteins. Through analysis of these and others we are able to comprehend better the treatment of edema and the successful results as well as the failures