PLASMA PROTEINS IN CUTANEOUS BURNS

Attention has frequently been called to the analogy between traumatic toxemia and the toxemia following extensive burns. Certain alterations in the plasma proteins have been observed which are of fundamental importance in explaining the syndrome in shock. It, therefore, seemed desirable to study the plasma proteins of a group of cases of burns to determine whether further light might be thrown on the toxemia which is seen after recovery from the initial collapse in such cases.

Starling¹ demonstrated that the walls of the blood vessels are normally impermeable to colloids. It is also known² that the composition of the plasma of a given person is relatively constant. Dale and Laidlaw³ have shown, however, that the concentration of blood in histamine shock is not accompanied by an increase of the plasma proteins. They concluded that histamine acted directly on the capillary endothelium, rendering it more permeable, and that