A case of syphilitic uveitis.

A 38-year-old man had anterior uveitis that failed to respond to increasingly aggressive therapy with topical and systemic corticosteroids and mydriatrics. His disease progressed to panuveitis and neuroretinitis and was finally cured with penicillin injections for acquired syphilis. He suffered secondary optic nerve atrophy.

[Towards the development of a global index of functional disability based on the O.E.C.D. questionnaire. Items in a Swiss survey (author's transl)].

This study is based on a sample of 1500 persons, representative of the general population aged 65 years and over in Geneva and the central Valais region. The questions used to evaluate the level of disability are those selected by the OECD working group. They were included in a self-administered questionnaire.

[High-density lipoproteins in children with coronary diseases].

Low HDL-cholesterol and increased LDL-cholesterol have been shown to be cardiovascular risk factors. Recently, HDL/serum cholesterol and HDL/ LDL-cholesterol ratios have been advocated as more reliable indices of cardiovascular risk factors. In a comparative study, lipoprotein-cholesterol and lipoproteins-triglycerides as well as the HDL/serum cholesterol and HDL/LDL-cholesterol ratios were determined in children of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and in healthy control children.

[Ethical aspects of intervention studies (author's transl)].

Since the Second World War international ethical codes have been developed which aim to protect the individual in relation to medical experimentation. It is in these codes, rather than in the provisions of different national codes, that the principles applicable to epidemiological intervention studies should be sought. Having recalled the main characteristics of such studies, and particularly those which distinguish them from clinical trials, the authors consider two specific aspects of the issue: the balance between risks and benefits, and informed consent.

Short posterior ciliary artery insufficiency with hyperthermia (Uhthoff's symptom).

Transient visual blurring with heart or exercise (Uhthoff's symptom) is associated with multiple sclerosis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of its occurrence in cases of documented vascular disease. Two patients had insufficiency of the short posterior ciliary circulation.

[Food habits of Italian adolescents living in Geneva: effects of integration].

Mean food intake of a representative group of 14 year-old Italians (51 boys and 53 girls) is compared to that of Swiss controls (58 boys and 62 girls) according to caloric intake per principal nutrients and per meal. The comparisons also distinguish the Italians born in Geneva from recent immigrants.

[Incidence of cancer in the chemical industry: methodological aspects of a longitudinal study].

A current cohort study aims at estimating the relative risk of incidence of cancer for the personnel of several chemical compagnies in Geneva. The paper discusses some methodological problems encountered, especially with regard to the healthy worker effect.

Significance of scintillating scotoma of late onset.

Scintillating hemianopic scotomas are usually caused either by migraine or, more rarely, vertebral-basilar insufficiency. We report two patients in whom this symptom was probably caused by platelet microthrombi in pial vessels of the visual cortex. These patients were similar in that they had scintillating scotomas which began after the age of fifty and abnormal platelet aggregability.

[Effects of handicap, depression and somatic disorders on the self assessment of health].

Persons over 65 years of age were questionned on their state of health, in Geneva and the central part of canton of Wallis. The self-assessment of the state of health is only partially accounted for by the functional disability.

[Alcohol, tobacco and food consumption in liver cancer and cirrhosis. Preliminary results].

In German the consumption of food among cirrhotic patients, whether male or female and among male patients with primary liver cancer (PLC), is virtually the same as in normals. Alcohol consumption is very high in all three groups. The heaviest drinkers are the cirrhotic males, but the highest patient/control ratio is found among cirrhotic females (X 5.

[Alcohol, tobacco and food consumption in pancreatic diseases. Preliminary results of a study of 1000 cases].

The incidence of the cancer of the pancreas is particulary high in Geneva. To determine the possible effects of tobacco, alcohol and/or food, the consumption habits of patients with digestive diseases have been studied at the University Hospital of Geneva since 1977. The present contribution deals with pancreatic patients only.

Decreased HDL cholesterol in prepubertal and pubertal children of CHD patients.

Prepubertal boys and pubertal girls and boys selected because of the occurrence of acute myocardial infarction in their father or mother were characterized by a low HDL cholesterol when compared to healthy controls. This observation extends our previous observations of low HDL cholesterol in adult relatives of CHD patients to the children of the same patients. The occurrence of an HDL abnormality in young children demonstrates that the low HDL cholesterol precedes the occurrence of cardiovascular disease.

Is the weight loss of hyperbaric habitation a disorder of osmoregulation?

To examine the weight loss of hyperbaric helium-oxygen habitation, we measured the exchange of liquids and calories in six men who lived in this atmosphere for 32 d. The maximum pressure was 49.5 ATA.

Scars without wounds: spectrum of delayed manifestations of histoplasmosis outside of the endemic area.

This short series represents a spectrum of histoplasmosis usually described only in places where the infection is nearly universal. In fact, most of the patients in this series were born in such places (17 of 19 patients with complicated presentations; 2 had recent suspicious exposures). As young adults, they had moved away to pursue military life, usually in coastal areas where the evidence of infection with H.

[Functional disability according to Guttman's scale and self-evaluation of health in the elderly].

The global score of disability according to Guttman and the assessment of one's own health are correlated. Whenever this assessment is compared by reference to other people's state of health, it often appears better and it corresponds then to a lower level of disability.

System of notation for photocoagulation in the presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome.

Using a notation system for evaluation of photocoagulatin of the choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) in presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome (POHS) demonstrated several advantages, which are: (1) a projector system which allowed excellent magnification of the CNVM and its distance from the foveal avascular zone (FAZ); (2) direct study of fluorescein angiographic negatives; (3) good comparison of pretreatment of posttreatment lesions in relation to FAZ; (4) a precise measurement of the surface area of each CNVM and its distance from the FAZ; and (5) an accurate and rapid way of recording and comparing data. This notation system appears valuable as a means of standardizing the examination and photographic findings from multiple institutions. Results of photocoagulatin of the CNVM are presented.

Pulmonary toxicity of bischloronitrosourea: report of a case with transient response to corticosteroid therapy.

A case of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis secondary to bischloronitrosourea (BCNU) in a 49-year-old man with carcinoma of the pancreas is reported. The diagnosis was suggested by deteriorating oxygenation, restrictive changes on pulmonary function studies, and increased interstitial markings radiographically in the lower lung fields. Transbronchial biopsy excluded infectious etiologies and confirmed a bland nonspecific interstitial pulmonary fibrosis of recent origin.

[Geographic distribution in some latin countries of cancers of the alimentary tract (author's transl)].

Geographic distribution in some latin countries of cancers of the alimentary tract. A comparison of alimentary tract cancer incidence rates has been undertaken from the results of 5 latin cancer registries. The most striking features are the high incidence rates for gastric cancers in the provinces of Zaragoza and Piemont, for colorectal cancers in the canton of Geneva, and in the countries of Côte-d'Or and Bas-Rhin.