[Epidemiology and prognosis of childhood cancers at Gabriel-Touré Teaching Hospital (Bamako, Mali)]. / Épidémiologie et pronostic des cancers pédiatriques au CHU Gabriel-Touré de Bamako (Mali).

UNLABELLED: Cancer today is being treated as a public health problem in Africa, as in developed countries. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the epidemiology and outcome of children treated in the Pediatric Oncology Unit of Gabriel Touré Teaching Hospital in Bamako (Mali), six years after it opened. METHODS: Retrospective study of the files of all children aged 15 and younger diagnosed with cancer and treated by chemotherapy between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2010. RESULTS: The study included 690 children. Their mean age was 24 months. The time from observation of first symptoms to consultation was less than 3 months in 200 cases (29%), from 3 to 10 months in 256 (37.1%), and more than 10 months in 234 (33.9%). The five most common childhood cancers were malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) (n=231, 33.5%), retinoblastoma (n=170, 24.6%), nephroblastoma (n=102, 14.8%), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n=54, 7%), and Hodgkin's disease (n=34, 4%). Six years after the unit opened and after a mean follow-up of 3 years, we recorded 272 deaths (39.4%); at least 238 children are still alive (34.5%), with 180 cases (26.1%) lost to follow-up. CONCLUSION: Childhood cancer survival is still low in Mali, and the rate of loss to follow-up quite high.

Antibrain antibodies in alcoholic patients.

Sera of 30 chronic alcoholic patients and 30 age-matched and gender-matched controls were examined for antibodies to brain tissues. We performed an indirect immunofluorescence assay using the patients' and controls' sera as first antibodies, and fluorescein-conjugated anti-human-immunoglobulin Ig-A,Ig-G and Ig-M as second antibodies, on frozen sections of normal human brain. Binding to neuronal cell nuclei of frontal cortex and septal area was found in 40% of patients, but only in 6.7% of controls. The antibodies belonged to the IgM, and additionally sometimes the IgA and IgG subclass. The relevance of these antibodies for the development of brain disease in chronic alcoholic patients is discussed.

T-lymphocyte subpopulations in schizophrenic patients.

T-lymphocyte subpopulations were examined in the peripheral blood of 30 acute schizophrenic patients and compared with 30 age- and sex-matched patients with non-inflammatory neurological diseases. Significant increases in the numbers of Pan-T and T-helper cells were found in schizophrenic patients compared to the controls. The interindividual variability of values in the group of schizophrenic patients was greater than in the group of neurological patients.

[Double-blind study for the prevention of postoperative thrombosis]. / Doppelblindstudie zur postoperativen Thromboseprophylaxe mit Dipyridamol/Acetylsalicylsäure

In a double-blind study a randomized group of 96 patients with abdominal operations received a placebo, dipyridamol/acetylsalicylic acid or ASA alone. Thrombi were verified by the 125-I-fibrinogen test. In 38% of the placebo group deep venous thrombosis (DVT) was found, while only 10% of the dipyridamol/ASA group (P less than 0,05) and 28% of the ASA treated patients (not significant) showed radioactive thrombi. DVT were localized in 83.8% in the calf region. 48.6% of increasend activities were registered up to the end of the first postoperative day, 78.3% up to the third day. The results emphasize the importance of a general antithrombotic prophylaxis. Dipyridamol/ASA seems to be efficient in this regard for abdominal procedures.