| Abstrakt: |
To the Editor:—In The Journal for Sept 27, page 419, is an editorial on a paper by Rutstein, Nickerson, and Heald concerning the possible relationship between patent ductus arteriosus and maternal rubella. I should like to call attention to the fact that before any such statistical study can be of any significance it must be determined whether or not patent ductus arteriosus as an isolated lesion is in fact a developmental congenital lesion. I have pointed out in a number of articles that it has always been my impression that patent ductus arteriosus is not a developmental abnormality but is simply the result of failure of closure of the ductus when the newborn infant takes its first breath. The extensive studies of Barclay and his group at Oxford and the study of Clark and Kennedy and others support this view. Maternal rubella, and no doubt other infectious diseases, are |
