[Endoscopy and histology in the diagnosis of inflammatory intestinal diseases]. / Apports de l'endoscopie et de l'histologie dans le diagnostic des maladies inflammatoires intestinales (M.I.I.).

Colonoscopy is now a routine examination in the diagnosis and the follow-up of I.B.D. The most typical aspects of endoscopic and histological lesions are described. Colonoscopy and histological study of endoscopic biopsies permit a differential diagnosis of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in 90% of the cases. Certain cases remain indeterminate even after colectomy.

The emergence of new centres of diversity: evidence from barley.

Statistical analyses of data from a large barley germplasm collection of worldwide origins revealed that material from the USA now contains more variability in toto than material from any other country. In addition trends of overall diversity for other countries suggest that there is little association between high overall variability and what are considered as traditional "centres of origin" or "centres of diversity" for this crop. The five countries of highest overall diversity worldwide were found to be (in descending order): USA, Turkey, Japan, USSR and China. Cluster analyses revealed that relatedness of germplasm was by far strongest between certain European countries, which were also in general of a more intermediate diversity level. The data presented here suggests that the variability present in gene pools still varies substantially by country but according to patterns which appear different from those described previously.

Hierarchical cluster analysis as a tool to manage variation in germplasm collections.

The potential of using hierarchical cluster analysis to classify entries from a germplasm collection according to their degree of similarity was assessed. Results suggest that similarity is generally greatest among individual entries by country of origin and that hierarchical cluster analysis could be used as a tool to classify entries from germplasm collections according to their respective gene pools, even when no passport data are available. Based on this technique, it is also shown that the segregative potential of entries can be estimated.

Fiberendoscopy of the gastrointestinal tract in children. A series of 100 examinations.

This article reports the results of our first 100 examinations of the upper gastrointestinal tract and the colon in children and infants, using standard fiberscopes and also pediatric models. The procedure could be performed under sedation in 80% of the cases and general anesthesia was required mainly with standard fiberscopes. Compared to roentgenographic findings, fiberendoscopy proved to be more reliable in superficial mucosal lesions and gastrointestinal bleeding. Colonoscopy though difficult, is valuable in diagnosing rectal bleeding lesions and as a follow-up technique in inflammatory bowel diseases.

Use of propofol for sedation during gastrointestinal endoscopies.

This study investigated the suitability of propofol as a sole agent for continuous sedation in 100 unpremedicated patients during gastrointestinal endoscopy. The propofol was given very slowly (average 62.7 seconds) in order to prevent apnoea during induction, and the dose adjusted according to age (68% of patients were older than 50 years) and ASA grade (32% were ASA grade 3 or 4). There was no correlation under these circumstances between the observed haemodynamic variations and the age or ASA grade of the patients. The infusion rate during maintenance was also adjusted for age, and for the type of endoscopy. The mean rate was 4.3 mg/kg/hour. Recovery was rapid and of excellent quality; 77 patients were awake within 10 minutes and 99 reported total amnesia.

The use of ecogeographical data in the exploitation of variation from gene banks.

As the variation of species is known to be influenced both by ecological and geographical factors, data on the origin of a sample from a given species could be used to infer some of its genetic characteristics. This concept was examined in the context of gene banks, where the assembled diversity usually represents a large range of environments and geographic locations. Results suggest that, although ecological variables in the site of origin can be useful in predicting genetic characteristics in the samples, the use of such data is neither simple nor precise. On the other hand simple geographic data, irrespective of their ecological content, were found to offer an effective method of stratifying and sampling variation in germ plasm collections.

Fiberendoscopic monitorised dilatation of oesophageal strictures in children.

Oesophageal dilatations were performed 55 times in 10 children aged 2 months to 8 years presenting with acquired strictures of several origins. Classical bougienage with rubber material and newer technique with the Eder-Puestow's metallic olives system were used successively. The conjunction of the latter with systematic use of fiberendoscopy enhances considerably the safety of the procedure and permits better functional results.