Manual of Vital Function Testing Methods And Their Interpretation

ncerning the true relation of the liver to nitrogenous metabolism. When this day arrives the clinician will be better able to interpret the results obtained from ureagenetic tests than he is at the present time. m. FUNCTIONAL TESTS TO DETERMINE DISTURBANCE OF THE ANTITOXIC FUNCTION OF THE LIVER Poisons which obtain access to the organism through the portal circulation are fixed and destroyed under normal circumstances by the liver cells. It is natural, therefore, that this important function should be employed as a basis for testing the integrity of the organ. The first efforts made in this direction consisted in estimating the toxicity of urine and blood serum. An increase of toxicity of these bodies, it was held, indicates diminished toxicopexic power of the liver parenchyma. Tests of this character are carried out upon lower animals. The urine to be tested being injected intravenously into rabbits according to Bouchard's 25 method, and blood serum or urine into the cerebrum of rabbits according to Widal's method. The numerous sources of error and the technical complications surrounding these two methods have prevented their introduction into clinical medicine and they need not be "See also Estimation of Urinary Toxicity as a Test of Renal Function. described. . The methods which are in use to determine the antitoxic functional power of the liver are two in number. They are as follows: 1. The Methylene Blue Test of Chauffard and Castaigne. 2. E...