Aspirin and Reye's Syndrome

Abstract

To the Editor.— As one of the institutions that participated in the Ohio State study on Reye's syndrome and medication use, I am somewhat confused about the results of the study by Dr Thomas Halpin and co-workers in the Aug 13 issue of The Journal (1982;248:687). During the study period of December 1978 through March 1980, we reported to the Ohio Department of Health five cases of patients with Reye's syndrome, two of whom had no history of aspirin ingestion. The article stated that during this study period, of the 97 patients with Reye's syndrome, only three had no history of aspirin ingestion. I find it somewhat difficult to believe that two of the three patients with Reye's syndrome who had no history of aspirin ingestion were from a single institution, namely, the Cleveland Clinic. Likewise, the article states that during the period of December 1978 through March 1980, all