TEXS: in-vacuum tender X-ray emission spectrometer with 11 Johansson crystal analyzers.

The design and first results of a large-solid-angle X-ray emission spectrometer that is optimized for energies between 1.5 keV and 5.5 keV are presented.

High energy-resolution x-ray spectroscopy at ultra-high dilution with spherically bent crystal analyzers of 0.5 m radius.

We present the development, manufacturing, and performance of spherically bent crystal analyzers (SBCAs) of 100 mm diameter and 0.5 m bending radius. The elastic strain in the crystal wafer is partially released by a "strip-bent" method where the crystal wafer is cut into strips prior to the bending and the anodic bonding process.

Intracystic chemotherapy with bleomycin in the treatment of craniopharyngiomas.

Object: Since bleomycin has not yet been used very frequently in the treatment of patients with craniopharyngioma, it seemed important to document the course of a series of such patients treated with this preparation.

Methods And Results: Local chemotherapy with bleomycin was performed in 24 patients (20 children and 4 adults), 16 of whom presented with cystic or mixed (solid/cystic) craniopharyngioma and 8, with recurrent cystic craniopharyngioma. The drug was administered through an Ommaya reservoir, which was placed either by using a direct surgical approach (6 patients) or a stereotactic approach (16 patients), or with endoscopic assistance in patients with hydrocephaly (2 patients).

Central nervous system cavernomas in the pediatric age group.

Pediatric CNS cavernomas still are diagnostically and therapeutically challenging lesions. With the help of magnetic resonance imaging, the natural history of cavernomas now guiding therapeutic strategies is well documented in adults but remains poorly known in the pediatric age group, since most previous studies dealt with adult and pediatric patients together. This paper focuses on clinical, imaging, and therapeutic features and differential diagnosis of CNS cavernomas with an emphasis on their specificities in the pediatric age group.

Hypothalamic hamartoma: the role of surgery in a series of eight patients.

Hypothalamic hamartoma are rare lesions. We report a new series of eight patients treated for precocious puberty (six cases) or gelastic seizures (two cases). Surgical resection was total in four cases (three pediculated and one sessile).