THE USE OF CONTINUOUS INFUSIONS OF CALCIUM⁴⁵AND STRONTIUM⁸⁵TO STUDY SKELETAL FUNCTION

Abstract

Intravenous infusions of calcium45 of high specific activity were given for 1.7 to 3.3 hours at constant rates to patients with osteoporosis, Paget's disease, parathyroid diseases, and other disorders of skeletal metabolism. During each infusion, the specific activity of the calcium of plasma was found to increase at a constant rate—a result which allowed calculation of the amount of calcium with which the administered Ca45 appeared to mix during the infusion (the miscible calcium). The results of this test were reproducible in any given patient, were similar in normal subjects, and appeared to vary characteristically in several different states of altered skeletal metabolism. Similar results were obtained when strontium85 was substituted for calcium45.