[Evaluation of the relevance of the leak water test for the control of sterilization containers]. / Évaluation de l'intérêt du test de fuite à l'eau pour le contrôle de fonctionnalité des conteneurs de stérilisation.

OBJECTIVES: The objective is to check the maintaining performance of filter barrier in sterilizations containers with the leakage rupture the junction tank/lid of the container. In order to control the good sealing performance, we use the water leak test as described in the normative document AFNOR FD S98-053. Does the leakage rupture cause the contamination of containers during the storage or transport between two sterilization units? METHOD: We use 5 sets of 3 different containers (the first without barrier system (positive control), the others with barrier system (the second with positive water test and the third with negative water test)). The containers are sterilized after having positioned triptyc soy agar (TSA) plates at the bottom. In a closed chamber test, the containers are exposed with an aerosol of Micrococcus luteus under stress of an overpressure (25, 50 or 75 mbar) simulating atmospheric pressure variations. Each triptyc soy agar (TSA) plates are incubated during 5 days at 37°C for bacterial identification. RESULTS: At 25 mbar, 74% of containers having a leakage with a water test let the microorganisms ingress despite the filter barrier. The results confirm that the overpressure increases the level of bacteria in containers. Furthermore, the containers with positive water test are more contaminated than containers with perfect sealing. The effectiveness of the sterile barrier system is evaluated by the logarithmic reduction value (LRV). CONCLUSIONS: The water test could be a good indication to evaluate the effectiveness of the sterile barrier system of rigid sterilization containers.

[Transrectal drainage of pediatric pouch of Douglas abscesses under suprapubic US guidance: technique and results]. / Drainage par voie transrectale sous contrôle échographique sus-pubien des abcès du douglas chez l'enfant: technique et résultats.

Pelvic abscesses are not always amenable to percutaneous drainage. Transrectal drainage of pouch of Douglas abscesses, performed blindly by surgeons for many years, is not familiar to radiologists. The purpose of this article is to describe our technique for the drainage of pouch of Douglas abscesses under suprapubic US guidance and report our results in a series of 7 pediatric patients with deep pelvic abscess not amenable to percutaneous drainage after failure of antibiotics. The procedure was performed under general anesthesia. All procedures were successful and without complication. The drainage catheter was well tolerated in all cases with short post-drainage hospital stay. After failure of medical management, this technique can be used irrespective of patient age or sex using US transducers and drainage catheters routiney available in any radiology department.

[Purulent Staphylococcus aureus meningitis]. / Méningites purulentes à Staphylococcus aureus.

Retrospective study of 14 cases of Staphylococcus aureus meningitis and of data from the literature shows that this as yet infrequent disease which carries a high mortality rate (40%) is always related to neurosurgery, primary or iatrogenic septicemia, or local infection, usually in the lumbar area (spinal, abscess, spondylitis). The major clinical problem is the search for the meningeal lead point of Staphylococcus aureus penetration, whose eradication is more essential than in usual bacterial meningitis. Prognosis is mainly dependent upon the eventual existence of associated severe septicemia. Antibiotics active on Peni-M resistant Staphylococcus aureus and meningeal infection are reviewed.

Calculation of the elastic deformations of the revolution membranes.

Several applications, both on the ground and in space, are envisaged for large, light parabolic reflectors which are compact when folded. In this paper the aim is to calculate by a differential method the deformed meridian line and the creased zone of an elastic inflatable revolution membrane. Conversely, one can calculate the original meridian line which, under a given pressure, transforms into a selected meridian line, in this case parabolic. The theory is confirmed by the deformation measurements of a cap in 36-microm thick polyester film cut out of a sphere 4 m in diameter.