Discitis after lumbar disc surgery. Features of "aseptic" and "septic" forms.

Two major types of postoperative discitis have been previously described: septic discitis and "avascular" or "chemical" discitis. Percutaneous discal biopsy is an important way of distinguishing these entities. In a retrospective study of 25 cases of postoperative discitis, three groups have been analyzed with bacteriologic and histologic tests: a group of nine patients (group A) with positive discal bacteriologic cultures; a group of eight patients (group B) with typical septic histologic tests but negative bacteriologic discal procedures; and a group of eight patients (group C) in whom the histologic picture was reminiscent of a mechanical process.

[Renal leiomyoma. Apropos of a case].

Leiomyoma of the kidney is a rare tumor, for which little investigational imaging data is available, and which is poorly characterized by histological methods. We are here concerned with one case that benefitted from an extensive radiological workup, and we provide a comparison with other cases mentioned in the literature.

Carcinoid tumor occurring in a teratoid malformation of the kidney. An immunohistochemical study.

A case of a carcinoid tumor of the kidney that was intimately related to a mixed dysplastic and teratomatous lesion is reported. This lesion displayed focal transitional, mucinous, and endocrine differentiations. Immunofluorescence studies permit the identification of three immunoreactive products: somatostatin, glucagon, and serotonin.

[Cirrhosis induced by vitamin A].

The case of a 75-year-old woman who had been treated for 12 years by vitamin A (250,000 UI/day) for psoriasis is presented. During the hospitalisation, hepatic cirrhosis was detected and attributed to hypervitaminosis A based on disease history, clinical hypervitaminosis A features, increased vitamin A blood values and histological patterns, i. e.

Role of the mitogenic property and kinase activity of p60src in tumor formation by Rous sarcoma virus.

Expression of the src gene of Rous sarcoma virus in chicken embryo neuroretinal cells results in morphological transformation and sustained proliferation of this normally resting cell population. PA101 and PA104 are two mutants of Rous sarcoma virus which induce neuroretinal cell proliferation in the absence of morphological transformation. Their mitogenic property is temperature sensitive, and they both encode p60src proteins with low kinase activity.

[Tumor of the adrenal gland associating pheochromocytoma and ganglioneuroma (author's transl)].

An adrenal gland tumor associating of both a pheochromocytoma and a ganglioneuroma was discovered upon its fissuration in a 58-year-old male having a family history of neurofibromatosis. The patient's clinical course was fatal due to complications of necrotizing enteritis which was discovered at laparotomy. The association of pheochromocytoma, ganglioneuroma, and "café au lait" spots in the same patient illustrates the polymorphism of neural crest dysgenetic pathology.

[Bartter's syndrome: seven cases in siblings. Hypothesis of mild forms (author's transl)].

Three children with a Bartter's syndrome have been investigated: all of them had growth retardation, hypokalemia (less than 3 mmol/l), raised plasma renin activity and urinary prostaglandins (PGE2 and PGF2 alpha) and a decreased sensibility for angiotensin. In the siblings two children had also growth retardation with mild biological signs of Bartter's syndrome, and two children had normal growth slight hypokalemia raised RPA and urinary PH, and normal sensibility for angiotensin. These data suggest mild forms of this syndrome which could be the Bartter's syndrome diagnosed in adults after laxatives or diuretics absorption.

[Thyroid nodules. A report on 320 cases (author's transl)].

An analytical study of 320 case reports of patients with one or more thyroid nodules, 246 of whom had been operated upon, revealed the presence of 32 cancers, 15 toxic nodules, and 195 inactive benign uni- or multilobular goitres. Complementary examinations (scintigraphy with technetium, thermography, ultrasonography) cannot definitely establish the benign nature of a nodule. As long as cytological examination after needle biopsy, which requires the services of a highly specialised cytologist, will not become a routine procedure, histological examination is essential for correct diagnosis.