[Endobronchial ultrasonography]. / Échoendoscopie bronchique.

Endobronchial ultrasonography is a minimally invasive examination that offers new opportunities for exploring the mediastinum. It reaches and characterizes previously inaccessible lesions. Its relevance is largely supported by abundant and compelling literature, which explains its increasing medical application and the growing number of places offering it. This issue offers us an opportunity to review the key points of this technique and to report on some of our findings.

[The place of interventional endoscopy in the treatment of lung cancer]. / Place de l'endoscopie interventionnelle dans le traitement du cancer bronchique.

Interventional endoscopy, by eliminating an obstacle compromising the survival of a patient, has its place in the treatment of bronchial cancer whatever its stage of evolution. Forty percent of patients have not been treated yet, 30 still have therapeutic possibilities at the time of their relapse and for 30% all the possible treatments have been administered and interventional endoscopy remains their only chance of survival. A strict operational protocol ensures safety: operating theatre, general anaesthesia, rigid bronchoscopy, jet-ventilation, post-surgery ICU, and systematic post-surgery fibroscopy. Eighty percent of the patients retrieve normal ventilation. 12% are not sufficiently improved and 3% die either from uncontrollable haemorrhage or from the impossibility of repermeation. The nature of the tumour (primary bronchial cancer, metastasis at distance, invasion from a surrounding cancer) does not enter into the decision to intervene. The benefits of the latter are assessed by the pneumologist or oncologist who is in charge of the patient, but the final decision to intervene naturally remains with the endoscopist.

[Natural history of Menière's disease concerning 92 cases from 1971 to 1980]. / Histoire naturelle de la maladie de Ménière. A propos de 92 cas inclus de 1971 à 1980.

The author analyzes 92 cases of Ménière's disease seen for the first time between 1971 and 1980 (average duration: 3 years and 11 months). The isolated forms of cochlear and vestibular onset are respectively in the order of 21% with periods of 10 to 13 years before the appearance of the second symptom. In this series, the frequency of bilateral forms appears to be low (7.5%). It is probably much greater in the long term, justifying conservative therapeutic methods for hearing. A total of 22 patients underwent surgery: decompression of the saccus endolymphaticus (10 cases); vestibular neurectomy (11 cases); decompressive plate (3 cases); and sacculotomy operation of Fick (2 cases). Four patients were operated on twice.