[Dermatomyositis and colonic cancer. Review of the literature apropos of a case].

The authors report the case of a 56 year-old woman presenting with dermatomyositis revealing a cancer of the colon at the ganglial dissemination stage. Exeresis led to the regression of the dermatomyositis and allowed an attenuation of the steroid therapy. The muscular and cutaneous signs reappeared within six months, evidencing a metastatic hepatic dissemination.

[Retrospective study of 290 cases of hyperthyroidism after 55 years of age without previously documented thyroid disorders].

Previous studies having shown differences in the clinical presentation of hyperthyroidism in the young and in the over sixty-years old patients, we studied the presentation of hyperthyroidism of late onset without previous thyroid disorder to determine if it continued to change with age after 55 years. Two hundred and ninety cases of hyperthyroidism presenting after the age of 55 years without a previous history of goitre, collected in the Department of Nuclear Medicine of the Pitié Hospital between January 1976 and May 1980, were analysed retrospectively. There was no significant correlation between age and heart rate or total circulating thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) concentration.

Basal cell carcinoma overlying histiocytofibroma.

A case of basal cell epithelioma overlying a long-standing histiocytofibroma is presented. The association of these two tumors is a rare finding. The role of dermal factors in the pathogenesis of epidermal tumors is briefly discussed, just as the controversy about the reactive or neoplastic nature of the epidermal change.

[Laser in dermatology: biological effects; indications (author's transl)].

The various laser-systems can be classified according to: 1) the wavelength or range of wavelengths of the beam and 2) the method of delivery of the laser output: continuous or pulsed. -- Principal continuous-wave lasers are: -- the argon-ion laser, which produces multiple transitions ranging from 448 to 544 nm, -- the neodymium yttrium aluminium garnet (Y. A.

[Disseminated cutaneous osteomatosis in an infant (author's transl)].

An infant with disseminated cutaneous osteomatosis as described by Worret and Burgdorf is described. The diagnosis was confirmed by histology which distinguished the bone formation from sub-cutaneous calcification. The prognosis of disseminated cutaneous osteomatosis is guarded because there may be extensive skin involvement and because of the absence of effective treatment.

Malignant melanoma and histiocytofibroma.

In patients with malignant melanoma, histiocytofibromas often appeared to be present. The frequency of this association has been determined in 60 female and 40 male patients, and compared with age- and sex-matched controls. Histiocytofibromas are significantly more common in females with malignant melanoma than in controls.

[Circulating immune complexes in primo-secondary and serological syphilis (author's transl)].

Some clinical features of syphilis suggest that immune complexes may be a pathogenetic factor in the syphilitic lesions. Recently, circulating immune complexes have been reported in six patients with secondary syphilis by Søling et al. In our study, the presence of circulating immune complexes was investigated in 42 patients with syphilis (primary, secondary, serological) by the method of C1q binding test.