[Unsuccessful surgery of Cushing's disease. Role and efficacy of fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy].

Background And Purpose: To optimize and reduce the toxicity of pituitary adenoma irradiation, we evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (FSR) in 51 patients with functional adenoma; 12 of them had Cushing's disease.

Patients And Methods: Eleven females and one male, median age: 49 years, 8 of them relapsed and 4 had persistent hormonal secretion after surgery. The delivered dose was 50 grays (Gy) (5 x 1.

[Retro-ocular hydatid cyst. Apropos of a case surgically treated by the trans-facial approach].

The authors report the case of a woman presenting with a hydatid cyst of the left orbit and stress the clinical, CT scan and laboratory findings. They suggest a medico-surgical treatment protocol.

Modifications of collagens in the course of inflammatory tracheal stenoses.

A comparison was made between the biochemical and histological properties of collagens contained in samples of normal tracheas obtained at autopsy or of stenosed tracheas obtained during surgery. The amounts of total collagen solubilized by pepsin was increased seven times in the pathological samples, and the proportion of cartilage type II collagen decreased by about one half, being replaced by type I collagen, whose ratio was increased five times. Microscopic studies confirmed that cartilage underwent a degenerative process and was progressively infiltrated by fibrils of interstitial collagen.

[Wegener's granulomatosis with atypical beginning (author's transl)].

The authors report a case of Wegener's disease starting in the sub-maxillary region and spreading to the auricular region. The diagnosis was evoked by the correlation between the granulomatous lesions observed in the sub-maxillary region and on the tympanic membrane; there was also renal failure of rapid onset. A remission of five months has been obtained by treatment with corticosteroids and immunodepressant agents.

[Hyperfractionated irradiation with cobalt 60 in ORL cancers].

So-called "hyperfractionated" radiotherapy is aimed at obtaining synchronisation of tumour cells and to kill the cells synchronised in this way. The technique has been used now for approximately a year and a half in the treatment of 45 advanced or inoperable squamous carcinomas of the upper respiratory and digestive tract. The initial results are encouraging.