A theory of measuring, electing, and ranking.

The impossibility theorems that abound in the theory of social choice show that there can be no satisfactory method for electing and ranking in the context of the traditional, 700-year-old model. A more realistic model, whose antecedents may be traced to Laplace and Galton, leads to a new theory that avoids all impossibilities with a simple and eminently practical method, "the majority judgement." It has already been tested.

[Membranous glomerulonephritis during primary Gougerot-Sjögren syndrome].

Introduction: Glomerulonephritis, mainly membranoproliferative or membranous (MG), is observed much less often than interstitial involvement in Sjögren's syndrome (SS).

Case: We report a case of MG revealed by thrombosis of the inferior vena cava and of a renal vein in a 40-year-old woman with primary SS, which began with polyarthritis, immune-type lymphadenopathy, and Hashimoto thyroiditis and did not include obvious sicca syndrome. After failure of moderate-dose steroids and then azathioprine, each over separate 9-month periods, the MG responded well within a few weeks to monthly alternation of methylprednisolone and oral cyclophosphamide for 6 months.

[Juvenile dermatomyositis and panniculitis-type subcutaneous T-cell lymphoma. A case report].

Introduction: Juvenile dermatomyositis does not have, unlike the adult form, a paraneoplastic character.

Exegesis: We report the case of a 12-year-old girl who has a typical dermatomyositis complicated by the appearance of very aggressive lesions of lobular panniculitis predominating in the lower limbs. Their refractory character to different treatments (in particular corticosteroids, chloroquine, dapsone, methotrexate, azathioprine, intravenous immunoglobulins and ciclosporin A) will finally lead to the diagnosis of subcutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

[Pulmonary hyalinising granuloma: report of 2 original cases with cervicofacial and orbital involvement].

Introduction: Pulmonary hyalinizing granuloma is a rare fibrosing nodular disease of the lung characterized by its histological appearance, which includes at the center of the lesion a dense network of concentric hyalinized collagen lamella surrounded by perivascular lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate that rarefies in the center of the nodule.

Exegesis: We report two new cases: the first with laryngeal (endoluminal tumor-like), orbital (subeyelid nodule) and mesenteric (9 x 6 cm mass) location of hyalinizing granuloma; the second with cervical, facial (trismus), orbital (pseudotumor) and limb (ankylosing elbow) fibrosis.

Conclusion: The extrapulmonary diffusion of the disease is extremely rare.

[Aneurysm of the thoracic aorta and spondylodiscitis disclosing brucellosis].

Brucellosis, which decreased during the eighties in France, remains a public health problem in many Mediterranean countries. We report the case of a 65-year old patient native of Morocco, of thoracic aorta aneurysm and lumbar spondylodiscitis due to Brucella melitensis, revealed by haemoptysis and lumbar pains, with a favourable outcome after aortic graft resection, spinal plaster immobilization and specific lengthy antibiotic treatment. This case report is characterized by the absence of endocarditis or infectious focus near the aneurysm.