Nephrocalcinosis in juvenile farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) may be linked to osmoregulatory stress.

Nephrocalcinosis is a widespread challenge in intensive production of salmon smolt. There is however no consensus on its aetiology, which makes it problematic to implement proper measures to limit its development. We performed a survey of nephrocalcinosis prevalence and environmental factors in 11 different hatcheries in Mid-Norway as well as a 6-month monitoring in one of the hatcheries.

Assimilation and turnover rates of lipid compounds in dominant Antarctic copepods fed with C-enriched diatoms.

The study revealed species- and stage-specific differences in lipid accumulation of the dominant Antarctic copepods, the primarily herbivorous (copepodite stage V (CV), females) and the more omnivorous (females) storing wax esters and triacylglycerols, respectively, which were collected in summer (end of December). Feeding carbon-labelled diatoms to these copepods, C elucidated assimilation and turnover rates of copepod total lipids as well as specific fatty acids and alcohols. The C incorporation was monitored by compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA).

[Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis. A prospective survey of patients of Poitou-Charentes area].

Introduction: Recent reports demonstrate the implication of vitamin D in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: In a multicentric regional study (Poitou-Charentes area) during the first trimester 2010, we measured the 25-OH vitamin D serum level in 170 consecutive MS patients, and in 170 controls matched for age (±4 years), sex and date of blood sample analysis. We searched for correlations between 25-OH vitamin D serum levels and the MS form, the disability (EDSS), the relapse rate during the previous year and the presence and number of enhancing lesions on T1-weighted MRI dating less than 12 months in relapsing MS.

[Multiple sclerosis: immunomodulators, education, and self-injection].

One hundred and sixty four patients of the Poitou-Charentes area suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) and treated with an immunomodulating agent for more than 3 months completed a self-administered questionnaire. More than 60p.cent of the patients performed self-injection.

[Cutaneous ulcerations and osteolysis in the carpal tunnel syndrome].

A case of carpal tunnel syndrome with skin ulcerations and osteolysis is reported. Such cases are unusual. There was a sensory and motor deficit with chronic ulcerations on the palmar surface of the third phalanx of the medius.

[Intracranial hypertension and hydrocephalus caused by spinal cord tumors. Apropos of 3 cases].

Three cases of spinal cord tumor, revealed by hydrocephalus, are reported. Two patients showed symptoms of increased intracranial pressure and the third one presented himself with ataxic gait without intellectual impairment nor incontinence. In two cases ventriculo atrial shunt was initially inserted and the correct diagnosis was made only later on myelogram because lombosciatalgia or syndrome of the cauda equina.

[The blink reflex and stimulus detection by the facial nerve in 50 cases of Guillain-Barré polyradiculitis].

The blink reflex combined with stimulo-detection of the facial nerve was studied in 50 patients presenting Guillain-Barré polyradiculoneuritis. The reflex was normal in more than half the cases. The most frequent electrological picture consisted in bilateral lengthening of the early and late reflex responses of the blink reflex with unilateral or bilateral increase of motor facial latency.

[Neurological manifestations of Rendu-Osler-Weber disease. Apropos of 4 cases].

Rendu-Osler-Weber disease is a generalized vascular dysplasia which also involves the central nervous system. The neurological manifestations of the disease are due either to primary intracranial or spinal vascular lesions or to neurological complications of other visceral lesions, notably those of the lung (arteriovenous fistulae). The prevention of ischaemic or infectious cerebral accidents rests on the anatomical (excision) or functional (selective embolization) exclusion of pulmonary arteriovenous fistulae, when present.

[Spontaneous rupture of intracranial dermoid cyst. Clinical and radiological study].

A 22 year old woman had a seizure, and the skull X-ray showed an intracranial arched calcification. CT scan permitted diagnosis of dermoid cyst. Rupture of the cyst was testified by low density areas disseminated on the cortical surface and intra-ventricular fat level.

[Brief losses of consciousness of unknown origin. The contribution of echocardiography and of Holter monitoring].

67 patients presented with a syncope of unknown origin following the usual exploration and were the subject of a more elaborated study: echocardiography (echo 2D) and Holter. 3.5 per cent of the Holter recordings enabled to ascribe to the heart the cause of the syncope.

[Prognosis of treated temporal arteritis. Retrospective study of 87 cases].

Eighty-seven patients (mean age 73 years) with histologically proven Horton's disease were followed up in 5 different specialized hospital units from 1970 to 1984. Except for one patient treated exclusively with antimalarials, all were under corticosteroids. The mean initial dose of prednisone or equivalent was 0.

[Hematoma of the psoas. Comparative diagnostic contributions of ultrasonography and x-ray computed tomography].

A 11 cases study of hematoma of the iliacus muscle underlines better results obtained by C.T. Scanner compared to those of ultrasonography examination in term of definite diagnoses.

[Contribution of echocardiography and Holter monitoring to the diagnosis of occult sources of cerebral embolism].

112 echocardiographies and 91 long-term Holter recordings were performed looking for an emboligenic cardiac lesion in patients in sinus rhythm and free of any major carotid atherosclerosis. The results were evaluated in relation to the emboligenic potential of the lesions observed. 5 positive results were obtained (4.

[Protein profile and immunoelectrophoresis of cerebrospinal fluid in neurology. Results and etiologies apropos of 430 tests].

The study of 430 cerebrospinal fluids resulting from a neurological department showed 67 pathological medical cases according to following tests: intrathecal IgG synthesis and/or restricted heterogeneity with immuno-electrophoresis. We established a biological classification to approach the different etiologies. This classification was used for multiple sclerosis for which various strictly clinical classifications are not always able to diagnose the illness, as we show it for one of them.

[The blink reflex and the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Clinical correlations in 66 patients].

The blink reflex obtained from 66 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) shows 73% pathologic responses with MS considered as definite, 50% with MS considered as probable and only 18% with possible MS. These findings are of great diagnostical help, particularly in the absence of clinical evidence of involvement of the brain-stem. Among 8 electrological syndromes of alteration of the blink reflex, those due to large lesions of the brain-stem are often associated with definite MS, but small alterations of the blink reflex are more valuable for multifocal characterisation of the illness.

[Spinal cord metastasis of a glioblastoma].

Two years after surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy of a temporal glioblastoma, a 51 year-old woman presented pluriradicular symptoms ascribed to compression of the left part of the cauda equina. The second operation confirmed the metastatic nature of the compression, and histological investigation proved the similarity of the neoplastic tissues taken from the medullary and cerebral regions. The authors stress the rarity of the clinical forms of medullary metastases of glioblastomas.