Intraoperative testosterone assay for virilizing ovarian tumor topographic assessment: report of a Leydig cell tumor of the ovary in a premenopausal woman with an adrenal incidentaloma.

Ovarian virilizing tumors are rare and can lead to assessment difficulties because of their small size. A 41-yr-old female was referred for evaluation of hirsutism that had increased within the previous 3 yr. Menstrual cycle length was normal. Plasma testosterone was 3.9 ng/ml (normal range, 0.2-0.8 ng/ml), was not suppressible by 2 mg dexamethasone (4.3 ng/ml), and was increased (6.3 ng/ml) after three daily injections of hCG (5000 IU). Abdominal computed tomography scan showed an adrenal nodule (13 x 6 mm) that remained unchanged after 3 months. Ultrasound examination of the pelvis was normal. Ovarian and adrenal venous catheterization did not yield additional information. Topographic assessment was made by intraoperative measurement of testosterone in the samples taken from each ovarian vein (competitive chemiluminescent immunoassay ADVIA Centaur; right ovarian vein, 105 ng/ml; left ovarian vein, 5 ng/ml; peripheral blood, 7 ng/ml). Right annexectomy resulted in normalization of testosterone levels (0.22 ng/ml). Histopathological examination found a Leydig cell tumor of hilar type (1.5 cm). This observation illustrates the usefulness of intraoperative measurement of testosterone by a rapid automated technique for topographic assessment of ovarian virilizing tumor in premenopausal women.

Heparin cofactor II deficiency in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

In human plasma, heparin cofactor II (HCII) is a thrombin inhibitor, whose deficiency has been reported to be associated with recurrent thrombosis. The finding of two cases of low plasma HCII activity in two patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) led us to investigate this coagulation inhibitor in the plasma of a larger population of HIV-infected patients. The mean plasma HCII activity was significantly lower in 96 HIV-infected patients than in 96 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals (0.75 +/- 0.24 vs 0.99 +/- 0.17 U/ml, p < 0.0001). HCII antigen concentration was decreased to the same extent as the activity. The proportion of subjects with HCII deficiency was significantly higher in the HIV-infected group than in healthy individuals (38.5% vs 2.1%). In addition, HCII was significantly lower in AIDS patients than in other HIV-infected patients, classified according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on the basis of an absolute number of circulating CD4+ lymphocytes below 200 x 10(6)/l. The link between HCII and immunodeficiency is further suggested by significant correlations between HCII activity and both the absolute number of CD4+ lymphocytes and the CD4+ to CD8+ lymphocyte ratio. Nevertheless, the mean HCII level was not different in the various groups of patients classified according to clinical criteria, except in CDC IVD patients in whom HCII levels were significantly lower. In addition, no correlation could be demonstrated between HCII and protein S activities, another coagulation inhibitor whose plasma level was also found to be decreased in HIV-infected patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Right aortic arch and "isolated" left brachiocephalic arterial trunk. Fortuitous discovery in angiologic practice]. / Arc aortique droit et tronc artériel brachiocéphalique gauche "isolé". Découverte fortuite en pratique angiologique.

An exceptional case of congenital malformation of the supra-aortic trunks was discovered fortuitously during an angiographic examination. The echo-Doppler and arteriography findings are reported together with an outline of the most frequent congenital malformations of the supra-aortic trunks.

Determination of chlorotriazines, methylthiotriazines and one methoxytriazine by SPE-LC-UV in water samples.

Triazine herbicides form a wide group of substances that belong among the most common agrochemicals applied for pre- and post-emergence weed control. So, they can be found in the environment at trace level. In order to determine their concentrations in water samples by the usual analytical techniques, a preconcentration step is commonly necessary. In this paper, a simple analytical method for the quantification of eight triazines (three chlorotriazines, four methylthiotriazines and one methoxytriazine) in water samples by solid phase extraction-reversed phase liquid chromatography (LC) has been developed. LC shows good analytical performance for simultaneous multiple triazine analysis (repeatability <2%, reproducibility <3%), except for prometon (repeatability 5.52%, reproducibility 16%). The results, obtained by using carbograph and polymeric sorbents for solid phase extraction (SPE), have been compared. The limits of quantification achieved permit the application of the proposed SPE-LC method for the determination of eight triazines in water samples (0.0065-0.028 mug l(-1)).