Basal metabolism in pulmonary tuberculosis patients under collapse therapy.

On the basis of 567 determinations of the basal metabolic rate performed on 394 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis it was found in a previous publication’ that there was a tendency to a low basal metabolic rate in these patients. Furthermore it was noted that in tuberculous patients the basal metabolic rate usually showed a tendency to decrease when they were on bed rest and under collapse therapy. Numerous studies of the basal metabolic rate done by us since then have given similar results. Among the patients in whom these examinations were done, were many who had undergone various forms of collapse procedures. Epstein and Pine2 did determinations of the basal metabolic rate in patients with unilateral pneumothorax, with bilateral pneumothorax and with unilateral thoracoplasty and found a lowered rate in a good percentage of this group. Topper and Rubin3 also found that in children there was a decrease of the basal metabolic rate following pneumothorax induction. Since these basal metabolic rate studies were done in a relatively small number of patients and since they were done only in some forms of collapse therapy we thought it would be of interest to summarize the results, we have obtained In a large number of tuberculous patients under various forms of collapse therapy. Material and Method