The cardiac output in paget's disease before and after treatment with cortisone

1. 1. Observations on the cardiac output have been made in six patients with extensive Paget's disease before and during treatment with large doses of cortisone. 2. 2. In all cases, cardiac output was elevated before treatment. High doses of cortisone for a sufficient duration, more than three days and less than nine days, produced a pronounced fall to normal levels. Serum alkaline phosphatase levels changed in the same direction as the cardiac output. 3. 3. Cortisone had no consistent effect on oxygen consumption, large vessel hematocrit, total blood volume, pulse pressure or mean arterial pressure. Cortisone therapy resulted in a pronounced drop in pulse rate in three of the six patients studied. 4. 4. The mechanism through which cortisone exerts its effect on cardiac output in Paget's disease was not elucidated by these studies.