[Catheter rupture at the site of implantation: a rare accident? Apropos of 2 observations]. / Rupture de cathéter sur site implantable: un accident rare? A propos de deux observations.

Seventy three venous access ports of the same type have been implanted recently in our hospital. We have observed two cases of catheter's rupture. Both accidents show a lot of similarities: material of the same trade mark; same way of implantation: right subclavian vein; rupture before one year; rupture at the point of entry of the subclavian vein; migration of the distal part of catheter; withdrawal of this part by right femoral vein's catheterism. Both broken catheters and another not broken (implanted during more than one year) were tested. It appears that those catheters were weakened, especially around the rupture. The reason is the long-standing compression of the catheter at the narrow space between clavicle and first rib. Then, the rupture of this weakened catheter could have been produced by the high pressure due to injection with small syringes.

[Computed tomography of intracranial epidermoid cysts]. / Aspects tomodensitométriques des kystes épidermoïdes intracrâniens.

Diagnostic criteria of intracranial epidermoid cysts were established from the observation of 15 cases, confirmed by pathology, seen during the last 5 years. Tumors could be divided into four groups: posterior fossa, supratentorial spaces, transtentorial and extradural. Regions of hypodensity associated with the irregular nature of the outlines of the lesion are generally sufficient to suggest the diagnosis in a pre-operative scan, but certain tumors may be isodense or, more exceptionally, spontaneously hyperdense. Contrast images are extremely rare, and are seen only at the periphery of the lesions. The "mass-effect" is remarkably discrete when compared with the tumor size, sometimes of very large proportions.