Phytoremediation capacity of hybrid aspen at sites affected by industry and agriculture.

Fast-growing Populus spp. are well-acknowledged to restore contaminated soils from heavy metals in industrial areas. Thus far, there is no knowledge about the phytoremediation capacity of Populus spp.

Mobile Health and Inhaler-Based Monitoring Devices for Asthma Management.

Mobile health and web applications (apps), wearables, and other personal monitoring devices have tremendous potential to improve the management of asthma. More than 500 asthma-related apps, whether standalone or paired with sensors on inhalers, are currently available for health education, symptom recording, tracking of inhaler use, displaying environmental alerts, and providing medication reminders. Benefits of these tools include the ability to longitudinally collect symptom, trigger, and inhaler usage data, allowing the detection of significant changes over time to help patients and their caregivers determine whether symptoms are worsening.

[Intrasellar epidermoid cysts].

Two patients presenting with an intrasellar epidermoid cyst and operated on through a transsphenoidal approach, are reported. Problems regarding pathological controversies about the differential diagnosis (particularly craniopharyngiomas) are addressed. In order to establish the adequate preoperative diagnosis, the interest of MRI is discussed.

Multivariate analysis of predictors of cerebral vasospasm occurrence after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Background And Purpose: The role of type of treatment on cerebral vasospasm occurrence after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has not been studied. Through multivariate analysis we determined the independent prognostic factors of the occurrence of symptomatic vasospasm following aneurysmal SAH in a study cohort of 244 patients undergoing either surgical or endovascular treatment. The prognostic factors of sequelae after aneurysmal SAH were studied as well.

Stroke related to a dermoid cyst: case report.

Objective And Importance: We report the case of a woman presenting with sudden neurological deficit, revealing a parasellar dermoid cyst. To our knowledge, this clinicopathological finding is the first reported in the literature.

Clinical Presentation: A neurological examination of the patient revealed a left hemiparesis, including central facial palsy, which hampered her speech.

[Chordoid meningiomas. Clinical, neuroradiological and anatomopathological aspects. Apropos of a new case and review of the literature].

A 21-year old woman underwent surgery in December 1996 for the removal of a presumed tuberculum sellae meningioma. However, some radio-clinical findings were proved somewhat intriguing:the patient's age, the presence of inflammatory and febrile syndromes together with the diagnosis of aseptic meningitis associated with perilesional edema intensity (an unusual feature in such cases) made us challenge the initial neuroradiological diagnosis evoked in connection with the tumoral location and dural attachment pattern. A right sub-fronto-temporal approach allowed complete tumor resection (confirmed with a postoperative MRI) and clinical recovery of the patient.

[Meningiomas of the sellar diaphragm. Apropos of 4 cases].

Since 1987, we have treated four patients with diaphragma sellae meningioma. Tuberculum sellae meningiomas with intrasellar extension were strictly excluded from this retrospective study. A complete tumor removal was performed in two patients.

Aneurysm clipping after endovascular treatment with coils: a report of eight patients.

Between January 1990 and December 1994, patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage related to ruptured aneurysms who were referred to our institution were treated by neurosurgical and neuroradiological teams. In each patient, the respective indications for neurosurgical or endovascular treatment were discussed, taking into consideration patients' age and the morphological and topographical aneurysm features. We report eight cases of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage who underwent operations after primary endovascular procedures (Hunt and Hess scores III, IV, and V).

[Subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by aneurysm rupture. Surgery or embolization?].

Traditionally the aneurysms of the circle of Willis have been an indication for neurosurgery. New technologies of endovascular treatment with electrically detachable coils resulted in a different therapeutical concept since four years. A series including 140 patients has been treated in our institution from 1 January 1992 to 31 December 1994, 94 of them presenting with a subarachnoid haemorrhage.

[Venous angiography: importance in the diagnosis of brain death. 125 cases].

According to many ethical and humanitarian arguments, the diagnosis of "brain death" is more and more an emergency. The forensic criteria include abolition of consciousness, abolition of brain stem reflexes, abolition of spontaneous breathing joined to electrocerebral silence. However using EEG criteria of electrical silence may be unreliable because of technical artefacts or depressed electrical activity due to drug intoxication and hypothermia.

[Neurinoma of the oculomotor nerves. Apropos of 2 cases].

The authors report two cases of neurinomas of the oculomotor nerves: one neurinoma of the oculomotor nerve and one of the abducens nerve. The study of 30 cases in the previous literature points out the major striking features of these tumors. Both headaches and oculo-motor palsies are the most regular clinical features.

[Value of transcranial Doppler ultrasonography in patients with suspected brain death].

Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) is a non invasive technique which assesses blood flow velocitics in basal cerebral arteries. Specific patterns have been observed in brain death. In a continuous series of 72 patients, the TCD recordings from the intracranial internal carotid and middle cerebral arteries were compared with the results from the usual investigations for brain death, such as electroencephalogramme (EEG), and arteriography.

[Surgery for lumbar disk hernia after chemonucleolysis. Results and analysis. Apropos of 100 cases].

We studied the clinical results of 100 patients operated after failure of chemonucleolytic treatment with chemopapain for lumbosciatica caused by disk herniation. Secondary surgical procedures were performed because of persistence of sciatic pain and disk herniation visible on CT scan. Post-operative follow-up was done at a minimum of one year.

[Cell proliferation in human cerebral tumors. In vivo study of 45 cases by incorporation of 5-iododesoxyuridine].

A method to study the proliferation of human brain tumors, is presented. Non radioactive 5-Iododeoxyuridine (2.4 gr) infused over a 24 hours period is detected in situ on histologic section by an immunological technique (peroxidase-anti-peroxidase) using a specific anti-Iododeoxyuridine antibody.

[Value of transcranial Doppler in the monitoring of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage treated with calcium inhibitors].

Fifty four patients (33 male and 21 female, mean age 47) with spontaneous aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhages have been tested by repeated TCD: 25 of them were systematically administered intravenous Nimodipine when admitted at hospital, the 29 others constituted a reference group. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups of patients for age, sex, initial clinical status, importance of bleeding at CT scan, localization of aneurysm or existence of an angiospasm, whether clinically symptomatic or not. In 72% of the cases, TCD allowed to prove the existence of an angiospasm when higher flow velocity was registered in cranial basal arteries.

[Immediate and severe epistaxis caused by traumatic rupture of the carotid siphon. Apropos of a case treated by intravascular approach].

The authors report a recent case of massive and immediate epistaxis resulting from a rupture of the internal intracavernous carotid artery caused by closed head injury. The point out the unusualness and the extreme severity of such lesions. The pathogenesis of these epistaxis can be explained by an immediate arterial rupture proceeding from a sphenoidal fracture.

[Lumbar disk hernia in children. Apropos of 12 cases].

Lumbar disc herniation in young adolescent is uncommon. Twelve patients of 13 to 16 years old (4 boys and 8 girls) are reported. Traumatic history is encountered only in 1/3 of cases and any spinal abnormality is noted in this series.

[Synovial cysts of the lumbar interapophyseal joints. Apropos of 2 cases and review of the literature].

The authors report two cases of low back pains with sciatica caused by a synovial cyst of the interapophyseal joint of the lumbar spine. Analysis of only 23 cases found in the literature, point to their rarity, the lack of specific clinical signs, the importance of the CT scan for the diagnosis and the excellent results of surgical treatment.

[Comparative study of manometric and electroencephalographic monitoring in 100 carotid endarterectomies].

The authors compare the results of carotid artery back pressure and EEG monitoring in 100 carotid endarterectomies. They point out that EEG, especially during operative carotid occlusion, is more reliable to detect cerebral ischemia. EEG monitoring permits also to avoid using shunt more frequently.

[Surgery of the remaining carotid artery].

Seven patients with unilateral arterial carotid occlusion and contralateral arterial carotid stenosis in the neck are reported. Authors perform an extra-cranial to intra-cranial anastomosis on the occluded side prior to realize endarterectomy on the stenosed side. This policy obviates the need of an internal vascular shunt during temporary occlusion of I.

[Trans-cleido-manubrial approach to the upper thoracic spine (T1-T2)].

Authors describe their own experience of Sundaresan anterior approach and exposure of the upper thoracic vertebrae (T1-T2) including resection of the internal third of the clavicle and manubrium sterni. They point out technical details of that surgical approach and its indications.

[Spontaneous dissection of the extracranial internal carotid artery. Apropos of 3 cases. Usefulness of preventive occlusion-anastomosis].

Authors point out three observations of spontaneous dissection of cervical internal carotid artery (I.C.A.

[Current diagnostic criteria for intracranial epidermoid and dermoid cysts].

The authors report a recent series of 12 intra-cranial epidermoid and dermoid cysts. After they had reminded the main classical radiological and clinical signs which are rarely specific, they study C.T.