[State of the use of magnesium sulfate for prevention of cerebral palsy in pre-term newborn in the Rouen's hospital]. / État des lieux de l'utilisation du sulfate de magnésium à visée neuroprotectrice au CHU de Rouen.

OBJECTIVES: Although the benefit of magnesium sulfate to prevent cerebral palsy in antenatal on very preterm infants has been shown, there is still reluctance to use it. The aim of this study was to conduct an assessment of our practice using magnesium sulfate to prevent cerebral palsy at Rouen University Hospital to report its feasibility and safety in order to spread its use. METHODS: Unicentric and retrospective study, at the University Hospital of Rouen, between January and June 2014. All patients who delivered before 33 weeks or considered at risk of imminent delivery before 33 weeks were included (n=86). RESULTS: Among the patients who delivered before 33 weeks (n=82), a magnesium sulfate loading dose was administrated in 91.5% of cases. Treatment was mainly established and monitored by midwives (98.6%), usually in the delivery room (82.4%), and with an average duration of administration of 8.9±17.5hours. The treatment had to be stopped in a patient who presented bradypnea associated with impaired consciousness. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that magnesium sulfate can easily be prescribed in clinical practice.

[Anatomic, functional and identity results after clitoris transposition]. / Évaluation des résultats anatomiques, fonctionnels et identitaires après transposition du clitoris chez 30 patientes.

OBJECTIVES: Every year 3 millions of young women had undergone female genital mutilation. The psychological, identical and sexual consequences, as well as the treatment were described only recently. After a sociodemographic and cultural reminder, we analyze the anatomical, psychological, identital, and functional results of the reconstructive surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective monocentric study. Thirty women were included in our series. All the patients operated according to the technique of Pierre Foldes were contacted again, to estimate their motivations for this surgery and study the results on femininity, anatomy, psychology and functionality of this intervention. RESULTS: Twenty-six women were able to be estimated in the long term. Their main motivation was in 77% of the cases the research for a feminine identity. We compared the pre- and postoperative results, as well as different predefined under groups. The results shown a significant improvement between the pre- and the postoperative estimation for each of the items. The patients indicate an improvement: anatomical in 96% of the cases, for identity in 88% of the cases, psychological in 96% of the cases, and for sexuality in 88% of the cases. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This technique allows an improvement for anatomy and functionality but also for physical image, well-being and feminity.

[Laparoscopic creation of a neovagina by Vecchietti's technique: anatomic and functional results]. / Plastie vaginale par technique de Vecchietti cœlioscopique : résultats anatomiques et fonctionnels.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate vaginoplasty by Vecchietti technique adapted to laparoscopy and the anatomical and functional long term outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied the patients with vaginal agenesis (a Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome for seven of young adults) operated from 1997 to 2011. The data of eight patients with a median age of 18years old was collected. Surgical complications were analysed. The functional outcomes were compared to a control group with the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). RESULTS: No major complication occurred during surgery. The postoperative mean vaginal measurement was 7.2cm (4.4-10). The total FSFI scores did not differ from that of the control group (19.2 versus 18 p=0.82). Desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain of the patients were similar to controls. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic Vecchietti technique is a fast, simple and safe procedure to create a neovagina, and guarantees good anatomic and functional results.

Oncoplastic surgery for breast cancer based on tumour location and a quadrant-per-quadrant atlas.

BACKGROUND: The majority of published techniques for oncoplastic surgery rely on an inverted-T mammoplasty, independent of tumour location. These techniques, although useful, cannot be adapted to all situations. A quadrant-per-quadrant atlas of mammoplasty techniques for large breast cancers was developed in order to offer breast surgeons a technique dependent on tumour location, which reduces the risk of postoperative complications and delay to adjuvant therapy. METHODS: From 2005 to 2010, a series of eligible women with breast cancer were treated by quadrant-specific oncoplastic techniques. All complications and any delay to adjuvant treatment were recorded prospectively, along with local and distant cancer recurrences. Cosmetic outcome was evaluated using a five-point scale. RESULTS: A total of 175 patients were analysed. The median tumour size, after histological examination, was 25 (range 4-90) mm. Twenty-three patients (13.1 per cent) had involved margins. Seventeen of these patients were treated by mastectomy and three had a re-excision. Complications occurred in 13 patients (7.4 per cent), which led to a delay to adjuvant treatment in three (1.7 per cent). After a median follow-up of 49 (range 23-96) months, three patients had developed a local recurrence. The mean score after cosmetic evaluation was 4.6 of 5. CONCLUSION: A quadrant-per-quadrant approach to oncoplastic techniques for breast cancer was developed that tailors the mammoplasty for each tumour location. This panel of techniques should be a useful guide for breast surgeons, and extends the possibilities for breast conservation for large or poorly limited cancers, with a low complication rate and good cosmetic results.

[Assessing the contribution of a standardized method in defining the tumor bed using surgical clips in breast cancer]. / Évaluation de l'apport d'une méthode standardisée dans la définition du lit tumoral à l'aide de clips chirurgicaux dans le cancer du sein.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The objective of this study was to compare prospectively the delineations of tumour bed after breast conserving surgery from two techniques for defining the target volume. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixteen patients treated by lumpectomy with development of surgical clips were included. For each patient, four radiation oncologists delineated the clinical target volume (CTV boost) following its own method (technique 1) or using a predefined methodology (technique 2), the diameter to be applied around each clip relative to the risk of local recurrence. Factors taken into account to adjust the volume were tumour size, age, surgical margins and the presence of extensive ductal carcinoma. We then analyzed the factors varying the volume and variation of delineation for each method by calculating the concordance index: Kappa index and overlap. RESULTS: For all 16 patients, the volume delineated was nearly identical: 29.65 cm(3) with technique 1 and 33.54 cm(3) with technique 2 (P=0.6). The correlation was higher with technique 2 over technique 1, with KI from 0.146 to 0.285 (P=0.0001) and an OV of 0.302 to 0.458 (P=0.0002). CONCLUSION: Our study shows that within the same institute, there is a great variability in CTV delineation boost, even in the presence of surgical clips. A standardized approach to adjusting the volume of relapse risk factors has improved the consistency.

[Conservative treatment for breast cancer: optimization of the tumor bed localization]. / Traitement conservateur du cancer du sein: optimisation du repérage du lit tumoral.

PURPOSE: The main objective was to assess contributions and limits of surgical clips combined with computed tomography to define the tumor bed after conservative treatment of breast cancer. This retrospective observational study enrolled 16 patients treated by lumpectomy with surgical clips placed in the tumor bed. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We assessed the difficulties in localizing the tumour bed based on collected data (i.e. clinical description, mammography, ultrasound examination, surgical procedure and pathology data). The clip's number and localization, and the volumes of the boost were also analyzed. RESULTS: There was no preoperative occurrence of localization in 57 % of cases for palpable tumours, and in 13 % of cases where the lesion was subclinical. The collected data did not allow establishing a precise localization. The mean number of surgical clips per patient was 4 (range 1-9), and the delineation of the target volumes by radiation oncologists was not standardized. Oncoplastic techniques may produce difficulties in the localization of tumour bed. CONCLUSION: The placement of surgical clips by the surgeon is helpful, primarily when oncoplastic techniques are used. In many situations, these clips may cause problems of interpretation. In order to optimize the delineation of the boost, we propose a multidisciplinary approach and methodology to be used at the Henri Becquerel Cancer Centre.

Screening of SLC26A4 (PDS) gene in Pendred's syndrome: a large spectrum of mutations in France and phenotypic heterogeneity.

Sensorineural hearing defect and goiter are common features of Pendred's syndrome. The clinical diagnosis of Pendred's syndrome remains difficult because of the lack of sensitivity and specificity of the thyroid signs. The identification of PDS as the causative gene allowed molecular screening and enabled a re-evaluation of the syndrome to identify potential diagnostic characteristics. This report presents the clinical and genotypic findings of 30 French families, for whom a diagnosis of Pendred's syndrome had been made. Twenty-seven families had at least one mutated allele. Twenty-eight different mutations were identified, 11 of which had never been previously reported. The main clinical characteristics were: early hearing loss, fluctuation in terms of during deafness evolution, and the presence of an enlarged vestibular aqueduct.

Distribution of fitness effects caused by random insertion mutations in Escherichia coli.

Very little is known about the distribution of mutational effects on organismal fitness, despite the fundamental importance of this information for the study of evolution. This lack of information reflects the fact that it is generally difficult to quantify the dynamic effects of mutation and natural selection using only static distributions of allele frequencies. In this study, we took a direct approach to measuring the effects of mutations on fitness. We used transposon-mutagenesis to create 226 mutant clones of Escherichia coli. Each mutant clone carried a single random insertion of a derivative of Tn10. All 226 mutants were independently derived from the same progenitor clone, which was obtained from a population that had evolved in a constant laboratory environment for 10,000 generations. We then performed competition experiments to measure the effect of each mutation on fitness relative to a common competitor. At least 80% of the mutations had a significant negative effect on fitness, whereas none of the mutations had a significant positive effect. The mutations reduced fitness by about 3%, on average, but the distribution of fitness effects was highly skewed and had a long, flat tail. A compound distribution, which includes both gamma and uniform components, provided an excellent fit to the observed fitness values.