[A simple audiometry test of speech intelligibility in background noise].

We propose a new audiometric test to assess French speakers' speech discrimination in noise. This soundfield test uses a standard cocktail-party background noise superimposed on Fournier's disyllabic word lists. The background noise is CD-recorded at constant 55 dB SPL.

Myocardial infarction and primary thrombocytosis in a young man.

We report the case of a 27-year-old male smoker with simultaneous myocardial infarction (MI) and acute peripheral ischaemia. At the time of his first hospitalization, the platelet count and the coronary angiogram were normal. Two years later, the patient presented again with a leg artery occlusion, followed, a few days later, by a recurrence of MI.

Duodenal ulcer hemorrhage treated by embolization: results in 28 patients.

Background: To assess the effectiveness and prospects of transcatheter gastroduodenal artery embolization in the control of massive duodenal bleeding and to relate our experience.

Methods Of Study: The study is based on the retrospective analysis of 165 patients with endoscopically detected bleeding duodenal ulcer who presented between 1991-1998. 28 patients were considered eligible for endovascular treatment either at initial presentation or following hemorrhage recurrence after endoscopic therapy.

Outcome is not improved by the use of alternating chemotherapy in elderly patients with aggressive lymphoma.

Introduction: A prospective randomised study involving 810 elderly patients was conducted in an attempt to compare alternating chemotherapy with conventional first-line chemotherapy in aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in order to improve prognosis with an acceptable toxicity for elderly patients.

Patients And Methods: Patients included were 55-69 years old and had at least one adverse prognostic factor. Patients were treated either with ACVBP followed by consolidation (n = 396) or with an alternating regimen (n = 414).

Is septal deviation a risk factor for chronic sinusitis? Review of literature.

Introduction: The purpose of this work is to examine the role of septal deviation in adults in the pathogenesis of chronic sinusitis. This evaluation would allow a better understanding of the contributing factors to this pathology and would improve results in their management.

Material And Methods: This review was based on a Medline research over English and French literature published between 1980 and May 2001.

Abdominal wall weakness and lumboabdominal pain revealing neuroborreliosis: a report of three cases.

The authors report three cases of thoracic radiculoneuropathy disclosing neuroborreliosis. All three patients had low back and abdominal pain and two had marked abdominal wall paresis. EMG confirmed a motor involvement of the lower thoracic roots and CSF analysis revealed a lymphocytic meningitis in all three cases.

[Evaluation of corticosteroid replacement therapy and its effect on bones in Addison's disease].

Assessment of patients on steroid replacement therapy is important to avoid the consequences of overtreatment such as osteoporosis. The aim of this prospective study is to evaluate the severity and the etiology of osteopenia in 24 patients (15 women, 9 men) with Addison's disease receiving 30 mg hydrocortisone. Mean age of patients was 55 15 years.

[Alexithymia, health and psychopathology].

The term "alexithymia" is derived from the Greek and means "no words for feeling". Coined by Sifneos in 1972, alexithymia refers to a relative narrowing in emotional functioning. The salient clinical features of alexithymia include difficulties in recognizing and verbalizing feelings, endless description of physical symptoms instead of émotions, concrete speech and thought closely tied to external events, paucity of fantasy life.

Sinonasal lymphomas. Case report.

In the field of Otorhinolaryngology sinonasal lymphomas are relatively uncommon and represent less than 1% of all head and neck malignancies. Nowadays, they are regarded as consisting of two distinct subgroups, characterised by phenotype, location, prognosis and treatment. Lymphomas of the B-Cell phenotype are the most frequent type found in the paranasal sinuses.

[Spontaneous pneumomediastinum in an adolescent: an underestimated cause of chest pain].

Case Report: A case of mediastinal emphysema occurring without etiologic factor except a Valsalva's manoeuvre a few hours before admission in a 15-year-old boy is reported. Symptoms were cervical and chest pain with moderate dysphagia. Diagnosis was confirmed by palpating subcutaneous air in the neck region and mediastinal air on a chest roentgenogram.

[Quality of the care of the pediatric patient admitted to the emergency room].

Aim: By a prospective study, authors tried to analyse the quality of management of the pediatric patient admitted in the emergency department.

Population And Methods: One hundred admission files were prospectively analysed for characteristics of age (mean age: 70 months), effectiveness of measurement of physiological parameters, evaluation of appropriateness of nursing management according to recorded parameters, length of stay in the emergency department according to the need for hospitalization, blood tests, X-rays and the seniority of the attending medical staff.

Results: Parameters were not, or only incompletely, recorded in 65 files.

Granulomatous bronchiolitis associated with Crohn's disease.

Symptomatic bronchopulmonary disorders have been only occasionally reported in Crohn's disease, although several studies have documented the possibility of latent involvement of the respiratory tract. We report the case of a patient with long-standing Crohn's disease who presented with acute transient chest pain and a recent history of mild dyspnea and nonproductive cough. Chest radiographs were normal, while high-resolution computed tomography demonstrated a mosaic pattern of attenuation that was consistent with a bronchiolar disorder.

Antimicrobial resistance in Helicobacter pylori: a global overview.

Helicobacter pylori resistance to antimicrobial agents is of particular concern because it is a major determinant in the failure of eradication regimens. Antimicrobial drug resistance has been reported to occur for nitroimidazoles, macrolides, fluoroquinolones, rifampin and tetracyclines. Resistance to nitroimidazoles is the most common, in the range of 30-40% on the average in Europe while the overall prevalence rate of resistance to macrolides is lower, probably ranging between 2-10% in most countries.

[Lasers used by a young surgeon for stapes surgery].

We report the results of the first 38 stapes operations performed by a young surgeon. He achieved a perfect closure of the air-one gap (within 10 dB) in 89% of the patients operated on with the laser, compared with 65% of the patients operated on without laser. We discuss the significance of this difference, taking into account the multiple factors influencing the results.

Microbiological and serological diagnostic tests for Helicobacter pylori: an overview.

Different invasive and non-invasive diagnostic tests are available for the diagnosis of H. pylori in the individual patient. In practice, endoscopic tests are best for a primary diagnosis of H.

An early MR observation of carotid involvement by retropharyngeal abscess.

We report early carotid involvement by retropharyngeal abscess in a 4-year-old boy. MR imaging showed enhancement of the wall and narrowing of the lumen of the internal carotid artery, which were thought to reflect spasm and/or arteritis. Prompt treatment may have prevented hemorrhagic and neurologic complications.

Congenital anomalies of the inferior vena cava and left renal vein: evaluation with spiral CT.

Purpose: To determine with spiral computed tomography (CT) the incidence and caval location of left renal vein (LRV) variants that may affect inferior vena cava (IVC) filter placement, spermatic vein embolization, and adrenal or renal venous sampling.

Materials And Methods: Contrast material-enhanced spiral CT scans of 1,014 patients were evaluated for the incidence and configuration of LRV variants and for the distribution of the entrances of these veins into the IVC.

Results: In this series, variants detected were as follows: one azygos continuation of the IVC (0.

Hemorrhagic arachnoid cyst with third nerve paresis: CT and MR findings.

We report the CT and MR appearance of a nontraumatic hemorrhagic arachnoid cyst presenting with a third nerve paresis in a 37-year-old man. The cyst, located in the left suprasellar area, contained a fluid-blood level with stigmata of subacute hemorrhage on both CT and MR studies.

Castleman's disease in the neck: MRI.

We describe a case of Castleman's disease in a 8-year-old-boy who presented with a slowly growing mass in the upper neck. MRI showed a well-defined homogeneous mass with nonspecific signal features. Unusual features were a kidney-bean shape and the deep location in the suprahyoid region, the mass originating in the left retropharyngeal space.

Unusual location of an intracranial chondroma.

We describe the MR findings in a case of chondroma arising from the falx. At MR imaging, the mass appeared well defined, lobulated, hypointense to isointense on T1-weighted images, and very heterogeneous with marked hyperintense areas on T2-weighted images. After contrast administration, this tumor enhanced slightly on delayed images.

Mycotic sinusitis.

In recent years, Extramucosal Fungal Sinusitis (EFS) in immunocompetent hosts have aroused increasing interest from both clinicians and pathologists. Histopathologically, they are characterized by the presence of fungal hyphae in the lumen of the sinus with no tissue invasion. They include two different entities: the mycetoma and the atopical fungal sinusitis (AFS).

Sinusitis of dental origin.

Acute or chronic sinusitis may be odontogenic. Bacteria involved in odontogenic sinusitis are specific organisms associated with the teeth (Streptococcus sanguis, Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus mutans, anaerobic germs). They are often secondary to an intrasinus foreign body following periodontitis.

Medical and surgical management of chronic sinusitis.

The treatment of chronic sinusitis has four objectives: to control infection, to reduce tissue edema, to facilitate the drainage of sinus secretions and to maintain ostial permeability. Medical treatment includes antibiotics, decongestants, mucolytics, steroids and analgesics. Surgical treatment may be conservative, functional or radical.

Diagnostic techniques in chronic sinusitis: endoscopy, sinusomanometry.

The first endoscope was conceived as early as 1806. Since then successive technical advances led endoscopy of the nose and paranasal sinuses to a routine procedure. From the rediscovery of the rigid telescopes by Hopkins in the fifties, progress has stemmed essentially from the quality of the more powerful cold lights and the improvement in the light output of the fiber optics.