H. Mattie – författare

This book reflects the proceedings of the Boerhaave Course, "Developments in drugs used in Anaesthesia", held on r'lay 7th and 8th 1981 at Leiden University. The goal of the organizers of the course was to obtain a better under­ standing of the pharmacological and clinical applications of the drugs used in the field of Anaesthesiology. In my opinion, there is a constant need for post-graduate teaching not only on a clinical basis, but also in the so-called "basic sciences". This especially applies to anaesthetists. I would like to express my thanks to the speakers, who were all so kind as to send their manuscripts in time for publishing, and to thank the co-editors of this book, as well as rtr. B.P. Ccmnandeur, from r'lar­ tinus Nijhoff Publishers for their fruitful co-operation. Last but not least, I would like to thank the secretarial staff of my depar~ent for all the work they did arranging for manuscripts to be in the right places at the right times. Joh. Spierdijk THE USE OF H2 BLOCKERS T.H. STANLEY In the last decade a new important histamine receptor, H2 receptor, has been discovered which has major importance in gastric acid production. In addition, a new drug Cimetidine (Tagamet) which blocks the H2 receptor has been synthesized. The object of this presentation will be to discuss the possible role of this interesting drug (Cimetidine) before and during operation and possible postoperatively as well.

The desirability of quality-assay of ingestable or imbibable material has resulted in an established procedure in advanced countries. Testimony to its necessity was borne by the scandal of chateau-bottled Bordeaux crus classes a few years ago, a litigation instigated by the disillusioned consumers who either on the basis of absence of the expected inebriate state, or of the olfacto-gustatory caress by the bouquet or full-bodied lingering pharyngeal sensation, decided to strike a paranoid attitude, which ultimately proved to be justified. When one proceeds from sheer pleasure to dire necessity, the question of what happens to ingested medication assumes quite portentous features. Testimony is borne to this by the transitional stage, at which one is faced with the legal consequences of the basically illegal alcohol-respiration test, based on the relationship between the amount of ingested alcohol and the C Hs OH concentration in expired air or in venous blood, a wholly uncon­ 2 stitutional terror, in view of the Rome treaty signed by the Western coun­ tries, which says that nobody should be required to cooperate in procedures aimed at providing him guilty. On top of this, the lamentable fact is observ­ able, that among the professio nobile there are even those who took the oath of Hippocrates and lend their hands, not to cure (as they promised), but to perform a cubital vein puncture in order to prove someone, who is not their patient, guilty.