Comparative trial of an antihistamine, mequitazine, and placebo.

Forty patients suffering from a dermatological condition suitable for treatment with an antihistamine were studied in a double-blind randomized trial to compare the effectiveness and tolerance of mequitazine and placebo. Over a period of 2 weeks, patients received either 5 mg mequitazine twice daily or placebo. Where justified, patients were also given concomitant topical treatment but only with a hydrating cream or ichthyol paste.

[Value of screening for gonorrhea at a family planning consultation (author's transl)].

We report the result of an investigation carried out in the Gynecology Policlinic of Geneva. Systematic screening of 217 patients led to the detection of 2 cases of gonorrhea. Although of interest, it is not justifiable economically to screen for gonorrhea a group of patients in whom the chances of infection are small.

[Reticulohistiocytosis of benign evolution (Hashimoto-Pritzker type). Electron microscopy study].

We describe a rare form of histiocytosis, characterized by numerous tumoral lesions of the skin appearing at birth and desappearing spontaneously within 2 month without visceral lesions and without systemic symptoms. Light microscopy shows histiocytes, some of which contain an irregular nucleus with a spumous cytoplasm surrounded by many red blood cells. Electron microscopy shows myelinoid inclusions in the histiocyte cytoplasm and "vermiform" bodies.