[Transfusion-associated HIV contamination between January 1980 and September 1985].

This study reports the results of a retrospective survey of transfusion-related HIV-contamination in patients who were admitted in our neurosurgery department, between the 1st January 1980 and the 30th September 1985. In our area of France, the risk of HIV-contamination is low. During this 5-year-period the blood donors were not tested for HIV.

[Retrospective multicenter study of prevention of thromboembolic complications after lumbar disk surgery].

A retrospective study of thromboembolic complications after lumbar disc surgery has been performed. It included 16,656 patients from fifty neurosurgical units, operated on over the year 1989. The average number of operations was 333 +/- 19.

[Auditory evoked potentials of the brain stem in brain death].

Brainstem auditory evoked responses were recorded in a neurosurgical intensive care unit in 38 patients who had all the clinical criteria for brain death. Of the brain-dead patients, 65.8% never showed a response.

[Acute intracranial subdural hematoma after accidental dural puncture in epidural anesthesia].

A case is reported of an acute intracranial subdural haematoma following an accidental dural puncture during an epidural anaesthesia. A seventy-year old man, class ASA I, was operated on for prostatic adenoma under epidural anaesthesia. Dural puncture occurred during the first introduction of the needle into the L4-L5 epidural space.

[Neurinoma of the oculomotor nerve. Apropos of a case].

A case of a surgically verified neurinoma of the oculomotor nerve is presented. The diagnostic difficulties due to the parasellar localisation are discussed. Computed tomography scan data rarely allow to distinguish the nature of the tumor and in all cases are insufficient to distinguish a trigeminal nerve neurinoma of the oculomotor nerves.

[Hypotension induced by isoflurane for the treatment of intracranial aneurysm in late pregnancy].

A 31-year old primigravida was admitted at 31 week gestation for subarachnoid haemorrhage. Cerebral angiography revealed an aneurysm on the left middle cerebral artery. Eleven days later, the aneurysm was clipped off.

[Low-concentration enflurane:study of anesthetic stability and quality of recovery].

The stability of anaesthesia and the quality of recovery obtained with low doses of enflurane were studied. Two groups of 20 patients operated for lumbar slipped disc were compared. The mean age and weight distribution of the two groups were not statistically different.

[Infection of the valves of CSF shunts. Results of local and general antibiotic treatment in 6 cases].

Infection of six cerebro-spinal fluid shunts in six patients were treated with daily intrashunt injections of antibiotics plus combination of intravenous or oral systemic antibiotic therapy. Three organisms were involved in the shunt infection: staphylococcus epidermidis in five, staphylococcus capitis and micrococcus varians. One patient had mixed shunt infection with micrococcus varians and staphylococcus épidermidis.

[An apparatus for the noninvasive automatic measurement of arterial pressure].

An automatic apparatus for the measurement of arterial pressure by a non-invasive technique is compared with direct intra-arterial measurement in patients admitted to a neurosurgical intensive care unit. A good correlation is found between the results of the two methods for the systolic and diastolic pressure.

[Peripheral neuropathy during treatment with ornidazole].

The case is reported of an 18 year old patient who developed a peripheral neuropathy after being given 1.5 g ornidazole daily for 6 days and 2 g daily for 16 days (total dose: 41 g). Bilateral radial paralysis was noted clinically, whilst electrical investigations showed diffuse motor and sensitive anomalies.