Oestrogen Excretion in Breast Cancer

fibrinogen levels, nevertheless the correlation between Kjeldahl fibrinogen and the Stirland result is very much better than the corresponding correlation apparent from the scattergram illustrated in Fig. 1 of the paper by Dr. Calman and Mr. Cole. Part of the explanation for this lies in the action of plasmin (present in plasma and in most laboratory preparations of thrombin) on the fibrin coagulum. Your contributors have added yet another plausible method to the dozen or so already available for the rapid estimation of plasma " fibrinogen." It is superior to methods used in most laboratories, which are based on clot formation at different dilutions5 6 and which do little more than put a figure to the obstetrician's in vivo observation that a patient's blood has a prolonged clotting time. An even more satisfactory method is currently available. I believe that, faced with suspected hypofibrinogenaemia in a case of acute haemorrhage, the obstetrician and his patient will be better served by calling on the services of a biochemistry department rather than on those of a blood transfusion or pathology Iaboratory.-I am, etc., The Royal Women's Hospital, D. WATSON. Melbourne, Australia.