[Respective importance of the intradural contrast examination and of the scanning in operable sciatica].

It is not always possible to determine the numerical predictive values of two different diagnostic tests such as contrast studies with myelography and evaluation by CT scan in the preoperative evaluation of sciatica. The reliability of these predictive calculations can be subject to error. However, the concordant results of most studies favor the CT scan.

[Rhizomelic pseudopolyarthritis].

Clinically, polymyalgia rheumatica is characterized by bilateral hip and shoulder pain predominant in the shoulder girdle, with a varying degree of alteration of the general condition. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate is often markedly increased. The dramatic effect of corticosteroids in low dosage confirms the diagnosis.

[Nervous arthropathies].

In 1868, J.M. Charcot published his memoir "sur quelques athropathies qui paraissent dépendre d'une lésion du cerveau ou de la moelle épinière "based on 4 cases of tabes dorsalis.

[Physiopathology of articular chondrocalcinosis].

The physiopathological mechanisms leading to precipitation of pyrophosphate in the articular cartilage remain unclear. Numerous findings suggest an error in pyrophosphate metabolism: excessive production or defective degradation, a primary modification of the fundamental substance leading to crystallization, a chondrocyte dysfunction being a possible cause of these two anomalies. The relationships between deposition of calcium pyrophosphate and changes in the subchondral osseous plaque common to several metabolic diseases are even more mysterious.

[Arthritis related to intestinal anastomoses].

Jejuno-colic and jejuno-ileal anastomoses may provoke arthritis. The recently recognized physiopathology is that of arthritis due to immune complexes related to pullulation of Escherichia coli and of Bacilus fragilis. These cases of arthritis, usually sensitive to therapy, have, in some stutborn cases, required the re-establishment of intestinal continuity, which in each case has made the joint phenomena disappear.

Double-blind trial of ketoprofen compared with placebo in osteoarthrosis of the hip.

In this study, patients suffering from osteoarthrosis of the hip received two successive periods of treatment, A and B, each of two weeks, with either ketoprofen or a placebo. The daily dosage of ketoprofen was 150 mg in three divided doses of 50 mg. In each case the findings necessary for diagnosis and for assessment of progress during the treatment were recorded.

Double-blind study of ketoprofen against a placebo in osteoarthritis of the hip.

In this trial, the patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the hip received either ketoporfen or a placebo successively for 2 treatment periods, A and B, of 14 days each. The daily dosage of ketoprofen was 150 mg in 3 doses of 50 mg. In each case treated, the parameters necessary for the diagnosis and those necessary to assess progress under treatment are reported.

[Arthropathies due to bismuth poisoning].

Encephalopathies caused by intoxication with bismuth are liable to be complicated by arthropathies of the shoulder, on one or both sides, of an osteolytic, and probably osteonecrotic, type involving to a greater or lesser extent the humeral head and/or by destruction of articular cartilage with ateration and flattening of the heumeral head. The relation between these arthropathies and bismuth intoxication appears certain but is not yet understood. The strict electivity of the condition for the shoulder is not understood either.

[The neurologic complications of Paget's disease].

There are several neurological complications of Paget's disease. They may concern the medulla, the cauda equina, and also the cerebral trunk, the cranial nerves, and the brain. Complications are rare when the great frequency of Paget's disease is considered.