[MRI of the semicircular canals in cranio-facial asymmetries and craniomandibular syndrome]. / IRM des canaux semi-circulaires dans les asymétries crânio-faciales et le syndrome crânio-mandibulaire.

The cranio-mandibular syndrome (CMS) is often secondary to an cranio-facial asymmetry (CFA); it associate a painful masticatory dysfunction syndrome with functional and aching clinical signs in relation with a functional torticollis required for oculo-labyrinthal equilibration maintenance. Our anatomical and functional MRI protocol uses tridimensional study of semi-circular canals (SCC) up relation to the medial cerebral axis (MCA), and permit to measure precisely these CFA and propose, with a multispecialist approach, an adapted treatment of the SCM. Application of MRI to SCC asymmetry looks to its future use for spatial intracranial referencial of cerebral structures.

[Percutaneous angioscopy and angioplasty in the treatment of arteriopathies of the lower limbs]. / Angioscopie et angioplastie percutanées dans le traitement des artériopathies des membres inférieurs.

Since 1987, the authors have routinely combined angioscopy with angioplasty of peripheral arteries. In a series of 251 angioplasties carried out in 191 patients, angioscopy was found to be more specific and more sensitive than arterial angiography in the etiological diagnosis of arterial stenoses and/or obstructions. Angioscopic findings modified the angioplasty procedure in 29% of cases. Using an inflatable catheter remains the most commonly used approach (230 cases); in 10 cases, this was preceded by thromboaspiration and in 4 cases by dotterization. Angioscopic support was useful in carrying out difficult manoeuvres (monitoring of the angioplasty in 4 cases, correct orientation of the guide into the lumen in 14 cases, installation of an endoprosthesis in 9 cases, arterial biopsy in 5 cases and sampling of an atheroma in 8 cases).

[Angioscopy of lower limb arteries. History and technique, cost and practical information]. / Angioscopie des artères des membres inférieurs. Historique et technique, coût et informations pratiques.

The historical background to angioscopy shows that the principal successes recorded by its use result from the miniaturization of fibroscopes and the progress in video imaging. The first tentative use of angioscopy was by surgeons during operations carried out at about 1970, that of percutaneous angioscopy dating from 1984. The material used for diagnostic (fibroscope, cinecamera, video system, flushing pump) and interventional (fibroscope, clamps, Dormia cage, endoprostheses ... ) angioscopy is such that the basic equipment requires an outlay of about 150 to 200,000 francs. Percutaneous angioscopy implies the insertion of a catheter allowing flushing of the arterial lumen by means of a pressurized perfusion pump which, when reversed, is transformed into an aspirating pump for removal of the clot and/or atheromatous debris. The procedure is simple and does not expose to more complications than conventional arteriography.

[Percutaneous diagnostic angioscopy. Primary lesions]. / Angioscopie percutanée diagnostique. Les lésions élémentaires.

Efficacy of percutaneous treatments of arterial affections requires the correct choice of indications, necessitating precise knowledge of elementary arterial lesions. Arterial endoscopy appears to be more specific than angiography for this use, since it allows direct vision in vivo of the lesion, a histopathologic approach compared with the non univocal images produced by angiography (for example, an arterial obstruction can result from varied causes). Different accidents to the endothelial surface can be observed: golden yellow atheromatous elevations on a straw yellow background, intimal flaps, mobile intra-luminal vegetations. Established atheromatous stenosis are smooth and regular, or on the contrary ulcerated and edged with irregular flaps capable of provoking an eccentric residual lumen. The vegetating atheromatous lesions may project into the lumen, often as calcified and thus pearly white scales adhering to the wall, or as larger occlusive lesions. When capable of being isolated, a thrombus often completes the stenosis: its recognition is therefore fundamental since its removal exposes the subjacent lesions to be treated. The fresh clot is coral shaped, bright red and mobile in the blood flow. Established clots are compact and greenish brown. At an advanced stage of atheroma the surface of the occluding clot is covered with a regular straw yellow endothelium. In the presence of a dissecting vessel the fibroscope may be introduced into the false channel, no longer showing typical endothelium but a coagulated mass interspersed with fibrous bands. Prosthetic stenosis result from either intimal hyperplasia or a suturing fault with plication.

[Interventional angioscopy]. / Angioscopie interventionnelle.

Since 1987, routine angioscopic examination has been performed in 191 patients undergoing angioplasty, with interventions (196) after a 2 year surveillance period (55). Angioscopy allowed follow up "de visu" of the performance of angioplasty, details of its mechanism to be precise and under dilatation to be carried out. For femoral artery occlusions it allowed treatment "à la carte": conventional dilatation of vegetating atheroma, specific treatment of established thrombi (5) and abstention from therapy of atheroma covered by endothelium (3). It also enabled fresh thrombi complicating a stenosis or at the origin of a thrombus to be detected. The extraction technique employed (15) is described. It facilitated catheterization by directing the probe, enabled avoidance of bypassing of stenosis and flaps and of dissection or false introduction into collaterals (10). Directed biopsy could be carried out in inflammatory arteritis (7). Vegetating atheromatous lesions could be opened and extracted, facilitating subsequent dilatation and allowing an approach to removal of iliac artery obstructions without major risks of complications (13). Finally, after an ineffective dilatation or the presence of a dissection, it assisted making the decision to introduce a stent (9), the tolerance and outcome of these stents are described. Or the 196 patients considered suitable for angioplasty, our therapeutic conduct was modified by angioscopy in 58 cases (29%). Not simply a new diagnostic tool, it plays a role in interventional vascular techniques.

[Percutaneous angioscopy in the diagnosis of arteriopathies of the lower limbs]. / L'angioscopie percutanée dans le diagnostic des artériopathies des membres inférieurs.

Because of the poor specificity of the arteriography, the authors have performed a percutaneous angioscopy before every angioplasty of the arteries of lower limbs for nearly 3 years. They define the angioscopy and describe materials and technique. The percutaneous route without surgery and without anesthesia underlines the originality of the technique. The great difficulty is to counter-pulse the arterial inflow. The rate of saline irrigation and all the means of arterial blockade are described. In the second part, the "elementary images" are classified. The authors insist on the specificity of the angioscopy in the interpretation of arterial obstructions. Because of this specificity, the right treatment can be applied to any type of lesion. Angioscopy permits to foresee endoluminal surgery technique.

[Femoral angioplasty. Long-term results]. / Les angioplasties fémorales. Résultats à long terme.

A study on the long-term efficacy of femoral-popliteal angioplasty was carried out on 185 angioplasty cases over a 5 year follow-up period. A classification of data according to the type of lesion treated, revealed that results were favorable in case of stenosis (87%), short obstruction (70%) and long obstruction (35%). A special study of the outcome of treatments for stage IV arteritis was carried out. After comparing results with those obtained by other teams, the authors list the complications encountered, hematomas, and thromboses, and show their current tendency for regression. Lastly, the authors stress the advantages of angioscopy, which permits to identify the nature of the treated lesions and to predict possible complications, which are usually underrated by angiography.

[Long-term results of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of the iliac arteries]. / Résultats à long terme des angioplasties percutanées transluminales des artères iliaques.

A well-mastered technique will cause percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of iliac arteries to achieve long-term results comparable to those obtained surgically. In isolated iliac stenosis, a 95% good result rate is attained (81% cured, 14% improved). More complex cases of iliac stenosis yield 90% good results (72% cure), with a mean Doppler ankle/arm pressure index gain of 0.5 point in a series including 673 patients at 5 years follow-up. Only the presence of combined distal femoral lesions may cause the good result score to drop to 85%, including merely 35% cure. General complications are practically lacking and local complications are minimal, which incites one to propose this technique as a first-line treatment of iliac stenosis whenever distal blood circulation is maintained.

[Angioscopy and angioplasty of the iliac and femoral arteries]. / Angioscopie et angioplastie des artères iliaques et fémorales.

Angioscopy is a technique of endoscopic investigation of the vascular lumen and its contents, which we have coupled with iliac and femoral angioplasty. The material comprises 3 main elements: the angioscope, the TV-monitoring assembly and the infusion system. No complication was recorded in a series of 94 angioscopies (47 iliac, 44 distal femoral and 3 grafts) performed over a period of 18 months. The technical quality of the images obtained was good in 90% of cases (85/94). Angioscopy revealed lesions that had either been nonvisualized or underrated by angiography, and played a determinant role in 16% of cases (15/94), whereby the therapeutical procedure could be modified accordingly.

[Pitfalls in phlebography]. / Les pièges en phlébographie.

Despite the progress in functional investigation procedures, phlebography remains the standard test in venous disease of the lower extremities. The development of better quality contrast media has significantly improved patients tolerance. After a review of the regular, routine procedure, the authors stress the technic's pitfalls. Uncomplicated pitfalls are air bubbles, Venturi's effect, venous malformations, and superimposed venous axes or gases. This type of problems is easily circumvented. Flow images caused by confluent axes of high-flow veins (internal iliac veins, renal veins) or layer courants (gutter effect) are presented as a reminder. Compression images are often more treacherous: related to normal veins: compression of left iliac vein by aortic junction; of inferior vena cava by enlarged aorta or by osteophyte; tourniquet too low, iliac vein compressed by a dilated bladder; or compression due to intramuscular hematoma,... related to pathological veins: to be mentioned are bridle-caused obstruction of the popliteal vein (Klippel-Trénaunay syndrome), and retroperitoneal fibrosis. Although the present description of phlebography-related pitfalls is neither new, nor exhaustive, it should be reconsidered, as phlebography of the lower limbs, while being currently better tolerated, is still an update technic that needs to be rendered more reliable.

[Percutaneous angioscopy of the iliac and femoral arteries]. / L'angioscopie percutanée des artères iliaques et fémorales.

Very few papers about peripheral angioscopy are reported in literature. Percutaneous angioscopy (P.T.A.) of 25 peripheral arteries (21 iliac and 4 femoral arteries) have been performed by the authors without surgery and without anesthesia. Three observations are selected. The first one demonstrates an eccentric stenosis altering its diameter during pulsations; an irregular ulcerated atheroma is observed. The second case shows the signs of a centric atheroma with an intimal fragment. The last one is an intimal dissection due to PTA. The prospective aspects of this new technique are discussed.

[Combined intravenous arteriography and pyelography in hypertension. I. -- Technical and diagnostical aspects on the bases of 475 cases (author's transl)]. / Le temps artériel de l'urographie intraveineuse dans l'hypertension artérielle. I. -- Aspects technique et diagnostique de 475 observations.

UNLABELLED: Renal arteriogram can be obtained by a rapid injection (15-22 ml/s) of a venous bolus of 2-3 ml/kg B.W. of contrast media at 38 p. 100 and followed by an excretory pyelography with early films and wash out by furosemide to determine the functional significance of an eventual stenosis in a hypertensive patient. Analysis of 2 000 such radiological examinations, 475 of which done in hypertensive patients, showed that a stenosis could be adequatly detected in 70 p. cent of the cases when only one arteriographic film was taken and in 95 p. 100 of the cases when 6 films were taken with a film changer. With this latter technique the morphological information was comparable to that obtained with the Seldinger technique. This latter was however necessary to confirm the stenosis preoperatively when only one arteriographic film was taken. Tolerance of the examination was good in spite of transitory heat sensation and headache in 66 p. cent of the cases. The examination of 475 hypertensive patients led to discover 55 renal artery stenosis, 12 of which were functionnal, 4 aneurysms (1 of the renal artery, 2 of the aorta, and 1 of the hepatic artery) and one coarctation. IN CONCLUSION: combined intravenous arteriography and pyelography is a valuable technic, as regards, safety and efficiency in the diagnosis of renovascular hypertension. This warrants a comparison of this technique with the classical diagnostic approach of renovascular hypertension as regards its diagnostic efficiency and cost for the community.