This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Correction  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

WILLIAM A. DAVIS, M.D.; HOWARD A. FRANK, M.D.; ALFRED HURWITZ, M.D.; ARNOLD M. SELIGMAN, M.D.

Arch Surg. 1943;46(2):296-300.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

The clinical importance of parenteral therapy with vitamin K has become well established. The most prolonged improvements in prothrombin clotting time so far reported have followed the intravenous administration of either synthetic vitamin K₁ or 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (menadione). The chemical reactivity and the toxicity of menadione as described by Fieser¹ make it less desirable for general use than vitamin K₁. A single dose of one of these drugs can restore and maintain normal blood prothrombin levels for periods as long as two or three weeks.² Some inconvenience is caused by their lack of solubility in water and their sensitivity to ultraviolet rays. This has led to the continued use of water-soluble preparations; the effects of these are of much shorter duration, so that repeated injection is required for prolonged effect.

After the synthesis of vitamin K₁, Fieser³ postulated that this light-sensitive vitamin probably did not . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
BOSTON

From the Medical Service, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and the Surgical Service, Beth Israel Hospital.

Footnotes
This investigation was aided by a grant from the Proctor Fund, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?