[Hysteroscopic septoplasty: after miscarriages?]. / Faut-il attendre les accidents obstétricaux pour sectionner les cloisons utérines ?

OBJECTIVE: To assess reproductive outcome of women affected by septate uterus after surgical correction. PATIENTS AND METHODS: It is a retrospective study. The setting is a French university hospital. Surgery was performed on 66 patients between 2000 and 2010. Hysteroscopic metroplasty was performed in every group once the diagnosis was made. There were two groups: 35 patients affected by septate uterus had past history of miscarriages, preterm and term deliveries. Thirty-six patients had never been pregnant. RESULTS: In the group of 35 patients with a previous obstetric history, the rate of miscarriages was 57.1% before surgery and 10% after surgery. There was a significant gain of live birth ratio of 55% among women being pregnant after surgery compared to women being pregnant before surgery. For patients with no pregnancy before surgery, obstetrical results are the following ones: miscarriages 25.9%, preterm deliveries 11% and term deliveries 59.3%. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Hysteroscopic septoplasty is an easy technique with few complications in our study. Hysteroscopic septoplasty is strongly recommended after recurrent miscarriages or premature deliveries. We use to propose surgery to every patient affected by septate uterus, even if they have never been pregnant.

Accuracy and precision of perfusion lung scintigraphy versus 133Xe-radiospirometry for preoperative pulmonary functional assessment of patients with lung cancer.

PURPOSE: This study sought to determine whether (133)Xe-radiospirometry (XRS) successfully selects patients able to undergo lung resection without postoperative respiratory complications and whether perfusion lung scintigraphy (PLS) is likely to provide a similar selection of patients for certain tumour stages. METHODS: Two hundred and eighty-four patients with resectable lung cancer underwent preoperative assessment of postoperative forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) by XRS and PLS. Correlations, Bland and Altman analysis and contingency tables were used to analyse the difference between the two predictive techniques. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty patients underwent lung resection on the basis of XRS preoperative testing only. None of them developed respiratory insufficiency. Despite a close correlation, the limits of agreement between predicted FEV(1) by XRS and PLS exceeded +/-0.3 l/s. For tumour stages T1Nx and T2N0, PLS underestimated postoperative FEV(1) whereas it overestimated this parameter for stage III. CONCLUSION: XRS accurately selects patients able to undergo lung resection without postoperative pulmonary insufficiency. The agreement between XRS and PLS is unacceptable. When only PLS is available, higher thresholds for patients with stage III cancers and lower thresholds for those with stage I cancers should be used to decide on operability.

[Hyperammonemia and decrease of growth and nocturnal locomotion in rats with portal stricture and uremia]. / Hyperammoniémie et diminution de la croissance et de la locomotion nocturne chez le rat avec stricture portale et urémie.

In order to make clearer the pathogenesis of hepatic coma, the clinical tolerance of progressive levels of chronic hyperammonemia were studied in the rat. Increases of blood ammonia in the range of 200 to 600 micrograms/dl were produced within 4 weeks by stricture of the portal vein associated with progressive rises in blood urea resulting from reduction of the renal mass and/or addition of urea to the food. The portal stricture produces a collateral circulation allowing a hepatic bypass of portal blood and the ammonia level of this blood is proportional to the amount of circulating and alimentary urea hydrolyzed in the digestive tract. Only the highest hyperammonemias were associated with decreased nocturnal locomotion of the rats and decrease in the growth rate. The latter was correlated with the ammonia levels. No animal presented signs of coma. These results suggest a good cerebral tolerance by the rat of important chronic hyperammonemias which however seem to have an anorexic effect.

Comparative pharmacokinetic profiles of cinoxacin and pipemidic acid in humans.

Serum and urinary levels of Cinoxacin and pipemidic acid were determined at 7-day intervals in the same 10 healthy volunteers after a single oral dose of respectively 500 and 400 mg of the drugs. Comparison of results shows that Cinoxacin was absorbed faster (absorption half-life, ta 1/2cin = 0.25 h) than pipemidic acid (ta 1/2pip = 0.37 h) and distributed in a smaller apparent volume (AVDcin = 23.5 1/1.73 m2; AVDpip = 60.1 1/1.73 m2). Biological half-lives were identical (tb 1/2cin = 2.10 h; tb 1/2pip = 2.15 h). On the other hand, serum levels for Cinoxacin at 1, 2 and 4 hours (8.1 +/- 1.5 micrograms/ml, 10.6 +/- 1.5 micrograms/ml, 5.6 +/- 1.3 micrograms/ml respectively) were higher than those for pipemidic acid (3.3 +/- 0.3 micrograms/ml, 3.4 +/- 0.5 micrograms/ml, 2.1 +/- 0.5 micrograms/ml respectively). Urinary excretion of the two derivatives during the 12 hours following their administration was similar (Ucin0-12h = 86%; Upip0-12h = 83%). Mean urinary concentrations were particularly high, still attaining respectively 90 +/- 29 micrograms/ml and 131 +/- 38 micrograms/ml in samples collected between the 9th and the 12th hours; these levels were well above the M.I.C. for the Gram-negative organisms included within the spectrum of activity of these two quinolones. In addition, predictive calculations of serum levels reached after multiple dosing indicate that at an administration rate of 500 mg every 6 or preferably every 4 hours, Cinoxacin concentrations should be sufficiently high to be of interest in the treatment of systemic infections by sensitive organisms.

[Simultaneous determination of blood insulin and plasma C-peptide levels. Value during assessment of glucose tolerance, especially in obese subjects (author's transl)]. / Intérêt de la détermination simultanée des taux d'insuline et C-peptide plasmatiques pour l'appréciation de la tolérance glucidique, notamment chez l'obèse.

Insulin secretion is assessed by simultaneous radioimmunological assay of insulin (R.I.I.) and C-peptide (R.I.C.P.) levels under basal conditions, and after stimulation by oral or intravenous glucose administration. Subjects with abnormal glucose tolerance demonstrate an increase in the ratios R.I.C.P. divided by glucose and R.I.C.P. divided by R.I.I. after fasting, increase in R.I.I. and R.I.C.P. occurring later and lasting longer after glucose loading. These anomalies are observed in both obese subjects and those with normal body weights. Simultaneous determination of R.I.I. and R.I.C.P. levels appears of value in a limited number of cases where glucose loading tests do not supply precise information on the quality of glucose tolerance. Obese subjects, in whom abnormal hyperglycemia levels provoked by oral glucose are observed, but in whom the peripheral glucose assimilation coefficient is normal, can be considered to be non-diabetic as shown by the levels of R.I.I. and R.I.C.P. and more particularly by the molar ratio R.I.C.P. divided by R.I.I.