[Feves and left upper-quadrant abdominal pain in a Tunisian child. Amebic abcess of the spleen]. / Douleur de l'hypocondre gauche et fièvre chez une enfant tunisienne. Amibiase splénique primitive.

Amebiasis is a rarely localized in the spleen, and its preoperative diagnosis is difficult. We report the case of an 11-year-old Tunisian girl who presented with fever and left upper-quadrant abdominal pain.

[Primary hydatid cyst of the adrenal gland in a patient with situs inversus. A one-case report]. / Kyste hydatique primitif de la glande surrénale chez une patiente porteuse de situs inversus. À propos d'une observation.

Primary hydatid cyst of the adrenal gland remains an exceptional localization. The adrenal gland is an uncommon site even in our country in which echinococcal disease is endemic. We report the case of a 38-year-old woman who consulted for left back pain. The CT scan showed a cystic mass in the left retroperitoneal area with a calcified wall. The patient underwent surgery which confirmed a diagnosis of hydatid cyst of the left adrenal gland. The surgical treatment consisted on a total resection of the cyst, without rupture of the cystic wall and preserving the gland. The diagnosis was confirmed on macroscopic and histological examination of the resected piece. The postoperative course was uneventful. No recurrence had occurred after 36 months of follow-up.

Prevesical hydatid cyst: an exceptional occurrence.

Echinococcal cysts usually involve the liver; extrahepatic localization is reported in 11% of all cases of abdominal hydatid disease. We report a case of a prevesical hydatid cyst. A 53-year-old man was admitted with a large suprapubic mass. Ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed a cystic mass situated in front of the urinary bladder. There were no cysts in any other location. Serological tests were positive for Echinococcus. The patient was operated on and the cyst was completely excised. The pathologic examination confirmed the diagnosis of Echinococcosis. Isolated hydatid cyst situated in front of the urinary bladder has never been described in the literature. Hydatid cyst should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of abdominopelvic masses in endemic regions, before any procedure like puncture, biopsy or cystectomy, in order to avoid dissemination of the cystic contents or an anaphylactic shock.

[Prenatal diagnois of uropathies. Ten case reports]. / Diagnostic anténatal des uropathies. A propos de 10 observations.

UNLABELLED: Obstructive uropathies are a frequent cause of child renal failure. The prenatal diagnosis of such abnomalities should lead to appropriate management. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the interest of ultrasonographic prenatal diagnosis of urinary tract malformations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective study of 10 cases of urinary tract malformations diagnosed in utero. The mean age of the patients was 34.9 years and the mean gestational age at the prenatal diagnosis was 28.2 weeks of amenorrhea. The abnormalities diagnosed were: 2 cases of ureteropelvic junction obstruction, 3 cases of posterior urethral valves and 5 cases of mild hydronephrosis. The fetal karyotype, realised in 8 cases, was normal. In one case the urinary abnormalities was part of a multiple malformation syndrome and led to the termination of the pregnancy. 7 cases had a post-natal follow-up: 5 had a surgical management and two new borns had transient pyelectasies. The prediction of postnatal renal function is made by ultrasonographic appearance of the kidney and the amniotic fluid. Although the analysis of fetal urine for the assessment of renal function leads to conflicting results, it seems that sodium and beta-2 microglobulin urinary rates provide useful informations.

[Action of the extract from the optic tentacles of juvenile and adult snails on the in vivo development of the albumin gland of Helix aspersa]. / Action de l'extrait de tentacules oculaires d'escargots juveniles et adultes sur le développement in vivo de la glande à albumen d'Helix aspersa.

Injected optic tentacle homogenates in Helix aspersa were shown to cause a decrease in growth rate and albumen gland development. The effects of optic tentacles removed from young animals and from adult animals were compared. In young animals, injections of adult optic tentacle homogenate resulted in a reduction in both growth rate and albumen gland weight. In older adult animals injected with adult optic tentacle homogenate, growth and albumen gland development decreased, but not to the same extent as in young animals. In contrast, the inhibitory effect of the young tentacle homogenate was inverted. The possible source of a tentacular factor is discussed in relation to its possible origin in other investigated pulmonates, and also the mechanism of the homogenates heterochronic action.

[Electrophoretic detection of protein fractions in extracts of the ocular tentacles of Helix aspersa Müller, 1774 (Gasteropoda, Pulmonata, Helicidae)]. / Détection électrophorétique des fractions protéiques des extraits de tentacules oculaires d'Helix aspersa Mûller, 1774 (Gasteropoda, Pulmonata, Helicidae).

The extracts from ocular tentacles of Helix aspersa hare a heterochronic inhibitive action on the development of albumen gland. In view of elucidating the origin of this heterochrony, we make an electrophoretic study of the different extracts from juveniles, adults in activity, in natural sleep and awakning. This study has allowed us to spot 19 proteic fractions common to the four extracts of the tentacles under study, but these fractions show only differences in concentration. Particularly, the proteinic fractions 7 and 8 are more concentrated in the extract of juveniles snails tentacles than in the extract of adults snails. This difference in proteic concentration could explain the heterochronic inhibitive action of ocular tentacles extracts on the development of albumen gland of this snail.