[Cafés Sexos, a new concept of public health].

Sexual blooming is a factor that contributes greatly to the quality of life and a general sense of well-being. Information, counseling, dedramatisation and a sense of humour are precious therapeutic tools in sexology. Welcome to our Cafés Sexos where words relieve taboos, fears, false or negative ideas, and traumas which prevent access to a healthy sexuality.

[Sexuality and incontinence].

Incontinence is anything that inhibits the expression of sexuality. Male problems like premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunctions are forms of incontinence. The inability to retain ejaculation or maintain erection long enough to give pleasure to the partner generates feelings of shame and guilt which weaken virility.

[Investigation of sexual disorders].

It is not easy for physicians to investigate genuinely sexual problems because of our personal conceptions about sex related to our familial and religious upbringing. Lack of medical education or information and bad personal experiences inhibit us from speaking freely with our patients. And they, before daring to talk to us about a sexual problem, must already be suffering from severely handicapped relations.

[Why women consult sexologists: an approach for practicing physicians].

Female sexual dysfunctions are less known than male ones because women are more discrete and introverted. Female genitals are mostly internal and women live sex more cerebrally and sentimentally than men. Still half the patients my current sexological consultation are women.

[Unemployment and health].

Unemployment is a severe problem in Europe since 1980-1990, which is not only economic but also social and medical. European studies show that morbidity and mortality rates of unemployed persons and their families are consequently higher than in the general population. The longest the unemployment period, the more you troubles in physical and psychological health.

[Severe varicella pneumopathy in health adults. Apropos of a case].

The authors report a new case of respiratory distress syndrome which occurred as complication of varicella in an otherwise healthy adult patient. The case is well documented by images and immunological studies which are discussed in the light of recently published data.

[Anesthesia for the surgery of malignant pheochromocytoma. Hypertensive crisis after the administration of droperidol].

A case of malignant phaeochromocytoma is reported. Computerized tomography and scintigraphy using metaiodobenzylguanidine localized the tumour and metastases. The anesthetic management included invasive monitoring of pulmonary pressures with a Swan-Ganz catheter and arterial pressure with a radial arterial cannula.

[Surgery of acoustic neurinoma in the elderly].

Eleven patients, between 70 and 85 years old, with acoustic neurinoma, were operated by translabyrinthic approach. The size of the tumor was between 2 and 4 cm in five cases, 4 cm or more in six cases. Complete tumor removal was possible in six cases (55%), in five cases (45%) residual tumor was left behind.

[Permanent mechanical ventilation at home via a tracheotomy in chronic respiratory insufficiency].

This study describes our experience from 1960 onwards of 222 patients suffering from terminal chronic respiratory failure; we report our results of domiciliary mechanical ventilation for 11-17 hours per day using tracheotomy. The method was easy to use at home at a reasonable cost and was far less than in a medical environment. The results were excellent both for length of survival and quality of life for all cases where respiratory failure was due to chest wall problems (neurological, muscular or restrictive syndromes due to chest deformity).

[Technic and supervision of home assisted ventilation (H.A.V.) in tracheostomized chronic respiratory insufficient (C.R.I.) patients (author's transl)].

With 200 patients during the last 15 years the daily use of apparatus and supervision modalities, as described in the present work, has shown that H.A.V.