[New aspects in the treatment of pneumonitis (author's transl)]

Two groups of patients suffering from pneumonitis received different treatments and were compared retrospectively. The first group (38 patients) was treated with heparin and aprotinin. The overall mortality was 50 percent; of the patients who were artifically ventilated 64 percent died. The second group (60 patients) was treated with heparin, fresh-frozen plasma, nicotinic acid, methylprednisolone, and alpha-receptor blocking agents. In this group the overall mortality was 26.5 percent and the mortality among the patients who were artificially ventilated was 33 percent. These results lead the authors to feel that the treatment of pneumonitis with aprotinin is no longer indicated.