[Lipid levels of epithelial cells and parathyroid activity. Preliminary study of 30 patients]. / Taux de lipides des cellules épithéliales et activité parathyroïdienne. Etude préliminaire chez 30 malades.

During surgical cervical exploration of 30 patients with hyperparathyroidism (primary or secondary) 67 specimens have been collected: 22 adenomas, 2 glands of primary hyperplasia and 28 glands of secondary hyperplasia (in 7 patients). Fat content of parenchymal cells has been studied using Oil Red O stain on cryostat cut sections: this content is very low in hyperactive lands (adenomas, primary or secondary hyperplasias) and high in normal or suppressed glands, even enlarged. There is no correlation between parenchymal fat and stromal fat. Practical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

[Complex pulmonary tumor: pneumoblastoma. A case study (author's transl)]. / Tumeur pulmonaire composite: le pneumoblastome. A propos d'un cas.

The authors report a new case of pneumoblastoma concerning a 63 years old man who dies with hepatitic insufficiency and massive metastasis. The study in optic and electronic microscopy shows the three cellular contingents which form the pneumoblastoma: clusters of indifferenciated cells, spindle cells and cubic or cylinder epithelial cells, with few secretory granules and microvilli which form tubes or lobules. All the features show clearly a blastematous character very similar to a foetal lung which allows to differenciate the pneumoblastoma from carcinosarcoma.

[Multiple lesions in primary hyperparathyroidism. Nosologic approach]. / Les lésions multiples de l'hyperparathyroïdie primaire. Approche nosologique.

Surgical exploration identified 40 patients with several enlarged parathyroid glands (two to five) out of a retrospective series of 500 cases of primary hyperthyroidism. Complete clinicopathological correlations were available in 27 cases (19 women and 8 men). Seven patients had a history of Wermer's syndrome (type I, MEN). Final diagnosis was as follows: double adenomas, 11 cases; primary hyperplasia, 16 cases. In two cases, there was a clear-cell hyperplasia, 16 cases. In two cases, there was a clear-cell hyperplasia with massive involvement of four parathyroid glands. The fourteen other cases presented with predominantly chief-cell hyper plasia; the involvement of the parathyroid glands was frequently asymmetrical, mainly or exclusively confined to two enlarged glands in 9 cases. The authors conclude that when a patient presents with two enlarged parathyroid glands, two diagnoses are possible--double adenoma or asymmetrical hyperplasia. Since anatomical study of the two enlarged glands is not always sufficient for accurate classification of the lesions, it is advisable to make a histological examination of a third.