[Role of tubal insufflation in the postoperative follow-up of évidement cavities]. / La place des insufflations tubaires dans les suites opératoires des cavités d'évidement.

The authors report their experience of tubal insufflation in the post-operative care of cavity évidement. Their indications consist of évidement cavities with persistent residual muco-purulent otorrhoea or "glue ear" from the atrial area which remains thickened, while the rest of the cavity is healed (about 15% in their statistics). The technique is simple, consisting essentially of insufflations of air by means of an Itard catheter, which are repeated at regular intervals for a variable period of time. In some cases, drugs, in particular corticosteroids, are injected into the cavity via the catheter. In a series of 17 operated patients, the authors report: 9 excellent results in which drying of the cavity was obtained in record time; 4 good results in which drying of the cavity required numerous insufflations associated with systemic treatment (vaccine therapy, crenotherapy); 1 moderate result with transient persistent otorrhoea; 3 failures.

[Rare complication of frontal sinusitis in children: gas gangrene of the scalp. Apropos of a case]. / Une complication rare des sinusites frontales de l'enfant: la gangrène gazeuse du scalp. A propos d'une observation.

An 11-year-old child developed an infection of the scalp due to anaerobic germs following an acute attack of frontal sinusitis. The mechanism and therapy of this rare complication are discussed. The favorable outcome in this case suggests the need for revision of the generally poor prognosis of this complication, on the condition that adequate treatment be applied under the control of a multidisciplinary team.

[Severe forms of cholesteatomatous chronic otitis (author's transl)]. / Les formes graves d'otites chroniques cholestéatomateuses. Nouvelles observations.

Eighty further case-reports of patients, hospitalized for particularly severe forms of cholesteatomatous chronic otitis since 1977, are analyzed. -Cholesteatomas were associated with spontaneous atticotomy and atrial invasion in 37 cases, while in 8 patients the cholesteatoma was revealed by the presence of premalleal and anterior subligamental perforations. -New features were observed in 7 cases of cholesteatomatous and osteomatous chronic otitis. -Giant cholesteatoma was present in 12 cases, and unilateral tumors in 6 patients. -Four rarer types of lesion, obviously of a serious nature, were observed, including: -polypoid and hemorrhagic tumors (6 cases), -persistently highly fetid cholesteatomas (6 cases), and those that appeared to be "under pressure" (13 cases). -Finally, 7 cases were unusual and disturbing, demonstrating early extensive osteitic recurrence less than 6 months after initial excision. Widespread evidement is necessary for the majority of these cases.

[Meningioma of the ear simulating a glomus tumor: report on two cases (author's transl)]. / Méningiomes de l'oreille simulant une tumeur glomique. Deux nouveaux cas.

Two further cases of a meningioma of the ear simulating a glomus tumor are reported, pathological features in the first case leading to intensive discussion. Two such cases had been previously described in great detail in a paper published in 1977. In those patients, the differential diagnosis froma jugular glomus tumor was only established two and a half years later in one case, when excision was necessary because of an intracranial recurrence, and following-re-examination of all sections of jugular glomus tumors previously operated upon, in the other case. Factors enabling detection of meningiomas simulating glomus tumors were also discussed in the original report. Theses included discordance of clinical finding, -minimal signs on arteriography, -the primordial value of contrast computed tomography, -systematic alerting of the pathologist.