[Testicular mass in a teenager: a case report of embryonic carcinoma discovered late]. / Masse testiculaire de l'adolescent : à propos d'un cas de carcinome embryonnaire de découverte tardive.

Testicular cancer is a rare disease in adolescents but is the leading cause of solid cancer in 15- to 30-year-old men. We report a clinical case of a 16-year-old who presented to the pediatric emergency unit with a testicular mass that had been enlarging for several months and the diagnosis turned out to be multimetastatic testicular cancer. However, early diagnosis largely determines the prognosis of this disease. A literature review enabled us to update the prognostic factors, the reasons for diagnostic delay, and current screening practices for this disease. There are currently no formal guidelines in France.

Characterization of goldfish fin cells in culture: some evidence of an epithelial cell profile.

Comprehensive characterization of cultured cells in fish was little explored and cell origin is often deduced from morphological analogies with either epithelial of fibroblastic cells. This study aims to characterize cell origin in goldfish fin culture using morphological, immunochemical, and molecular approaches. Time lapse analysis revealed that cultured cell morphology changed within minutes. Therefore, cell morphology cannot predict whether cells are from fibroblastic or epithelial origin. The labeling pattern of heterologous anti-cytokeratin and anti-vimentin antibodies against goldfish epithelial cells and fibroblasts was first tested on skin sections and the corresponding labeling of the cultured cells was analyzed. No cell origin specificity could be obtained with the chosen antibodies. In the molecular approach, detection levels of three cytokeratin (CauK8-IIS, CauK49-IE and CauK50-Ie) and one vimentin transcripts were assessed on skin and fin samples. Specificity for epithelial cells of the most abundant mRNA, CauK49-Ie, was thereafter validated on skin sections by in situ hybridization. The selected markers were used afterwards to characterize fin cultures. CauK49-IE riboprobe labeled every cell in young cultures whereas no labeling was observed in older cultures. Accordingly, CauK49-IE transcript levels decreased after 15 days culture while CauK8-IIS ones increased. The use of homologous marker gave evidence that young cultured cells from goldfish fin are homogeneously of epithelial type and that cell characteristics may change over culture time.

Cryobanking of fish somatic cells: optimizations of fin explant culture and fin cell cryopreservation.

When gametes or embryos are not available, somatic cells should be considered for fish genome cryobanking of valuable or endangered fish. The objective of this work was to develop a method for fin explant culture with an assessed reliability, and to assess fin cells ability to cryopreservation. Anal fins from goldfish (Carassius auratus) were minced and gently loosened with collagenase before explants were plated at 20 degrees C in L-15 medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum and pH buffering additives. Quantification of cell-donor explants per fin rated the culture success. Cells were successfully obtained from every cultured anal fin (mean = 65% cell-donor explant per fin). All other fin types were suitable except the dorsal fin. Explant plating could be deferred 3 days from fin collecting. Fins from seven other fish species were successfully cultured with the method. After 2-3 weeks, sub-confluent fin cells from goldfish were cryopreserved. Cryopreservation with dimethyl sulfoxide and sucrose at a slow freezing rate allowed the recovery of half the goldfish fin cells. Cells displayed the same viability as fresh ones. 1,2-propanediol was unsuitable when a fast freezing rate was used. The procedure could now be considered for cryobanking with only minimal adaptation to each new species.

13C-octanoic acid breath test for gastric emptying measurement.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this multicentre study was to assess the accuracy and reproducibility of the 13C-octanoic acid breath test compared to scintigraphy for measurement of gastric emptying. METHODS: Sixty-nine healthy subjects (40 men, 29 women; mean age 30 years, range 21-61) were studied at least once by using the 13C-octanoic breath test. In 34 healthy subjects, gastric emptying was simultaneously measured by gastric scintigraphy, and the 13C-octanoic breath test was then repeated in 18 of these cases. Fifty-four patients (30 men, 24 women; mean age 46 years, range 13-74) with dyspeptic or reflux symptoms were studied according to the same procedure. RESULTS: The correlation between breath test and scintigraphic values was highly significant (r = 0.744, P<0.001). The concordance of results of scintigraphy and breath test (normal versus abnormal) and the reproducibility (Bland and Altman method) of the breath test were good (CVinter = 24%, CVintra = 15%). As compared to scintigraphy, breath test detected an abnormal gastric emptying with 67% sensitivity and 80% specificity (ROC analysis). CONCLUSION: These results confirm the value of breath test as an accurate measurement of gastric emptying. Its excellent reproducibility makes it a method of choice for pharmacological studies. However, at least when scintigraphy is considered the gold standard, breath test sensitivity may be insufficient for the detection of gastroparesis in an individual patient.

Asthma and its management at a student health service.

Of 96 asthmatic students 62 said their asthma had not required them to give up any activity but only seven said it had not interfered in some way with their sport. Thirty-nine regarded their asthma as an annoyance and 13 of these were angered by it. Fifty-seven respondents took treatment continuously and the most favoured agent in attacks was salbutamol. Peak flow meters were not used regularly except by six students. About two-thirds had significant deficiencies in their knowledge of asthma and the most popular source of information was the general practitioner. Only 30 had read the Asthma Foundation pamphlets.

The role of religious values in coping with cancer.

The relationship between transcendent meaning attribution, religious orientation, and psychological well-being was studied in cancer and noncancer patients to test the hypotheses that intrinsic religious values and life meaning enhance coping and well-being during the course of the life-threatening illness. Subjects were 44 patients receiving medical treatment for cancer and noncancer medical conditions. In the cancer group, higher levels of attributed life meaning were positively linked with intrinsic religious orientation, and associated with lower levels of despiar, anger-hostility, and social isolation. Cancer patients scored higher than noncancer patients on depersonalization, suggesting the presence of psychic numbing in response to their illness. Noncancer group results were characterized by positive correlations between the two groups in coping styles and salience of life meaning attribution. A rationale for the observed differences in coping styles between the two groups is presented, highlighting perceived life threat as a key differentiating variable.