Tolerance of Phenyl Para-Aminosalicylate, A Comparative Study

¹ Medical Department, Glen Lake State Sanatorium

1. Observation of the effects of treatment with the phenyl ester of p-aminosalicylic acid of 119 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis was conducted for periods ranging from one to 12 months. Comparisons of tolerance were made with sodium, potassium, and calcium p-aminosalicylates, resin complex of p-aminosalicylic acid, and p-aminosalicylic acid. A total of 530 patients was included in the comparative study.

2. Phenyl p-aminosalicylate was unusually well tolerated; only 36.97 per cent of the patients under this treatment developed symptoms of any type, and of these symptoms better than 90 per cent were mild or moderate. In this study, the PAS form second in degree of tolerance was the resin complex PAS, with 49.31 per cent of patients showing untoward symptoms.

3. While serum blood levels of PAS recorded for 99 of the 119 patients receiving phenyl PAS were somewhat lower than those obtained with the other types of PAS studied, the results, determined clinically and by roentgenologic examination, compare favorably with those obtained with other forms of PAS and reported previously.