Fine needle aspiration cytology in the management of head and neck masses.

Fine needle aspiration cytology is a useful technique in the management of patients with masses in the head and neck, which is usually performed in co-operation with a specialized cytopathologist. It has not until recently been an investigation used frequently by British otolaryngologists. This study shows that an aspiration cytology service may be run with the aid of a general histopathologist and demonstrates that it is a valuable aid to diagnosis even without the services of a specialized cytopathologist.

Oesophagostomiasis in man.

A case of oesophagostomiasis in an 8-years-old Africa girl is reported. The patient presented with abdominal pain and weight loss. Examination revealed multiple abdominal masses most of which were resected.

Galactocerebrosidase deficiency in globoid cell leucodystrophy of late onset.

Three children with progressive neurological disease are described in whom there was deficient galactocerebrosidase activity in white cells. Necropsy in one patient showed the neuropathological features of globoid cell leucodystrophy, and it is suggested that these patients suffered from a clinically and genetically distinct late form of Krabbe's disease.

Cockayne's syndrome: case report.

The clinical features in a new non-familial case of Cockayne's syndrome comprised the usual components: dwarfism with microcephaly, severe mental subnormality, progeria-like appearance of the face, pigmented retinopathy, and severe perceptive deafness. The patient also suffered from grand mal epilepsy and died in status epilepticus at the age of 22 years. The neuropathological findings were severe microencephaly, widespread calcifying vasopathy with some secondary degenerative changes in the contiguous tissue, and granular ependymitis.

Cerebro-costo-mandibular syndrome. A new familial developmental disorder.

Three sibs with a hitherto unreported syndrome are described, the main features being mental handicap, palatal defects, micrognathia, and severe costovertebral defects, involving segmentation of most ribs and fusion of their dorsal ends to the vertebral bodies. In addition one infant had hypoplasia of an elbow together with defects of sacrum and coccyx; she and one other sib had minor dental defects. The syndrome is potentially lethal in the neonatal period; one of the sibs has survived.

Necrotizing encephalomyelopathy of Leigh. Neuropathological findings in 8 cases.

Eight patients with necrotizing encephalomyelopathy are reported. Lesions were found only in the central nervous system. The principal sites affected were the caudate nuclei, putamina, periaqueductal tissues, tegmentum, and structures in the floor of the IVth ventricle.