[Detection of ovarian adenocarcinoma in the occasion of cerebrovascular complication associated with consumption coagulopathy]. / Découverte d'un adénocarcinome ovarien à l'occasion d'un accident vasculaire cérébral associé à une coagulopathie de consommation.

A 58 year-old woman was hospitalized for an hemorrhagic stroke, associated with a consumption's coagulopathy, related to a stage Ic ovarian carcinoma. After surgery and chemotherapy, hemostasic disorders disappeared. The same disorders occurred at tumoral relapse. Relationships between thrombotic or haemorrhagic manifestations and neoplasms are discussed, with emphasis on singularity of such phenomenon in ovarian carcinoma.

Influence of age, sex and ABO blood group on activated partial thromboplastin time.

To evaluate the influence of age, sex and ABO blood group on the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), we performed this test in 642 preoperative ambulant adult subjects. There was a significant negative correlation (R = 0.31, p < 0.001) between age and APTT. Sex and ABO blood group had a significant influence on APTT, with lower mean in females (30.9 s) and non-O subjects (30.7 s) than in males (31.6 s) and O subjects (32.0 s) (p = 0.015 and < 0.001, respectively). The largest difference between the upper cut-off values of APTT determined in patient subgroups defined on age, sex and ABO blood group is observed for non-O females over 40 years (36.9 s) and O males under 40 years (41.1 s). These results emphasize the laboratory's difficulties to define valid APTT normal range and thus to detect true mild coagulation disorders in preoperative asymptomatic patients.

[Action of teicoplanin on coagulase negative staphylococci in hospital units of the hospital Hôtel-Dieu in Paris]. / Activité de la teicoplanine vis-à-vis des staphylocoques à coagulase négative (SCN) au sein des services hospitaliers de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Paris.

Teicoplanin, a glycopeptide antibiotic, is active against Staphylococci, with the exception of some strains of coagulase negative Staphylococci (SCN). Determination of the in vitro activity of teicoplanin by standard disk methodology is not sufficient, and has to be confirmed by the determination of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for all strains presenting an inhibition zone diameter below 17 mm. We have studied during four months, the susceptibility of SCN to teicoplanin isolated from different units of the hospital, and in particular from the haematology unit (HU). 186 strains were isolated, 35 p. cent from HU and 65 p. cent from the other units of the hospital. All strains belonged to 11 species: 136 S. epidermidis, 14 S. haemolyticus, 8 S. lugdunensis, 5 S. warneri, 4 S. saprophyticus, 3 S. sciuri, 3 hominis, 2 S. chromogens, 2 xylosus, 2 S. cohnii and 1 S. schleiferi. Twenty five strains out of 186 (13.4%) presented a MIC of 8 or 16 mg/l (MIC verified by the agar dilution method): 7 S. haemolyticus, 16 S. epidermidis, 1 S. warneri et 1 S. capitis. During this study SCN resistant to teicoplanin were never isolated. Twelve out of 25 came from the HU, which correspond to 18 p. cent of the isolated strains in this unit. This result was not significantly different, compared to that of the other units.

Histological and urinary reactivity of monoclonal antibody 1BE12 in bladder carcinoma. Purification of the antigen from urine.

We have previously reported the production of monoclonal antibody (MAb) 1BE12, which recognizes a glycoprotein in breast-cancer cells. In the present work, 1BE12 reactivity was tested by immunohistochemistry in bladder carcinoma (92 cases) and in non-tumoral bladder samples (15 cases). In 71% of bladder tumors, more than 30% of cells were intensely stained by 1BE12. The percentage of reactive cells was higher in cancers invading the muscle than in more superficial tumors (p = 0.039). In non-tumoral bladder, immuno-staining, when present, was usually confined to the superficial layers with a low number of cells stained (less than 30%) in 13/15 cases. Slot blots, performed on urine samples from 43 bladder-cancer patients and 21 healthy controls, were quantified by densitometry scanning. We found higher optical density (OD) values in urine from muscle-invasive-cancer patients than in urine from more superficial tumors and healthy controls, with a significantly different distribution (p = 0.005). The urinary antigen was detected by immunoblotting with 1BE12 as high-molecular-weight species (greater than 150 kDa). The reactive glycoprotein could thus be purified by immunoaffinity and FPLC filtration from the perchloric-acid-soluble fraction of urine from patients with invasive bladder carcinoma. The availability of purified antigen will allow us to quantitate our assay, in order to evaluate its potential use as a prognostic indicator in bladder-cancer patients.