[A rare bone disease, but one not to be ignored: osteopathia striata]. / Une affection osseuse rare, mais à ne pas méconnaître: l'ostéopathie striée.

A case of osteopathia striata is reported, and this rare bone dysplasia reviewed. Normally asymptomatic, diagnosis of the disorder depends upon the finding of characteristic bone striation on radiological examination. A rarely isolated lesion, osteopathia striata is generally associated with other affections, which require systematic investigation in cases demonstrating typical radiological anomalies.

[Intraluminal duodenal diverticulum. An unusual duodenal image. Apropos of 3 cases]. / Le diverticule intra-luminal du duodénum. Une image duodénale inhabituelle. A propos de trois observations.

A rarely observed digestive tract disorder, an intraluminal duodenal diverticulum is usually discovered during the course of a barium gastroduodenal follow-through examination. Radiological appearances are characteristic: intraluminal globular opaque image surrounded by a clear border. Clinical signs are absent or non-specific, and surgery is rarely indicated, except when the lesions are poorly tolerated or complications develop.

[Double contrast barium enema-colonoscopy. Comparative diagnostic value in 73 patients (author's transl)]. / Lavement baryté en double contraste-coloscopie. Valeur diagnostique comparée chez 73 malades.

Double contrast barium enema and colonoscopy are great value in the diagnosis of lesions of the colon, especially polyps. This study involved 73 patients. The results were in agreement in 71,2% of cases and disagreed in 23,3%. In 5,5%, colonoscopy was technically inadequate. Classical barium enema remains indicated for the detection of carcinoma or in elderly or bedridden individuals. By contrast, barium enema should be replaced by double contrast study in the aetiological evaluation of rectal bleeding. In our own series, the diagnosis was positive in 92% of cases as long as both the radiological and endoscopic techniques were used.

[Tuberculosis of the oesophagus (author's transl)]. / La tuberculose de l'oesophage.

Two cases of tuberculosis of the oesophagus serve as an opportunity to review the clinical and radiological features of this rare condition. Generally situated at the junction of the upper and middle third of the oesophagus, the lesion is found opposite the invaded inter-tracheobronchial mediastinal nodes which may give rise to a fistula. Confirmed by oesophagoscopy, direct bacteriological examination, oesophageal tuberculosis is usually cured without sequelae by antituberculous therapy.

[A simple evaluation of osteoporosis: study of the architecture of the upper extremity of the femur by pelvic radiography]. / Une évaluation simple de l'ostéoporose: étude de l'architecture de l'extrémité supérieure du fémur sur la radiographie du bassin.

From the study of the architectural features of the system connecting the neck to the femoral diaphysis on pelvic radio-grams, osteoporosis can be classified into seven stages (7 to 1) of increasing severity. It is thus possible to estimate the risk of fracture, the latter being over 50 per cent from stage 4 onward. The cortex-diaphysis relationship (RCD) follows a parallel course but is less reliable. The investigation of a control group of 20 subjects and 37 patients with osteoporosis, aged 50 to over 80, shows the value of this method, with which it is moreover possible to check the evolution of the disease and the effects of treatment.

[The use of arteriography in the pharmacological study of a vasodilator substance]. / Artériographie et densitométrie. Intérêt pharmacologique pour l'étude d'une substance vasodilatatrice

The administration of a vasodilator substance is followed by the development of a higher contrast gradient in a given film in comparison with a reference X-ray carried out in the same subject under comparable technical conditions. Comparative densitometric measurement of the contrast gradient in the two successive arteriographic series, one with and one without the injection, arterial or venous, of a vasodilator substance (Couramine-Rutine) represents a valuable method for the study in man of the action of the substance in a visceral territory. The present study was limited to the kedney (79 cases), ans the territory of the superior mesenteric (46 cases). The absence of any densitometric difference between the two renal series at too low doses of vasodilator substance leads to the supposition of the possibility of a threshold dose of pharmacological activity.

[Arteriography in polyarteritis nodosa. 15 cases (author's transl)]. / L'artériographie dans la périartérite noueuse. A propos de 15 cas

Despite its imperfections, arteriography, when it demonstrates aneurysms, is an important element in diagnosis in all those cases in which histological findings are not definitive. It should be carried out before renal biopsy, given the risk of traumatic rupture of a possible aneurysm. The discovery of isolated distal arterial stenoses is not characteristic, though in the presence of a suggestive clinical picture, amy be considered as an argument in favour of the diagnosis. They occur frequently in the arteries of the digestive tract even in the absence of any abdominal symptoms or signs. Arteriography also has a prognostic value in establishing the extent of arterial lesions and, finally, is useful in the diagnosis of certain complications such as visceral haematomas and digestive haemorrhages. We thus feel that polyarteritis nodosa should be the object of a complete vascular exploration, including aortography with selective renal studies but also coelio-mesenteric opacification. In the light of the clinical context, the distal limb arteries may also be explored. Thus the diagnosis of polyarteritis nodosa is not purely histological but also arteriographic.