Faunal mortality associated with massive beaching and decomposition of pelagic Sargassum.

In 2018, the Mexican Caribbean coast received a massive influx of pelagic Sargassum spp. that accumulated and decayed on beaches producing organic decomposition products that made the water turbid and brown. Between May and September of the same year there were several reports of mass mortality of marine biota in this area. From these reports we estimate that organisms belonging to 78 faunal species died as result of this event, with demersal neritic fish and Crustacea being the most affected groups. The cause of mortality appears to be the combined effect of high ammonium and hydrogen sulfide concentrations, together with hypoxic conditions. If massive arrival of pelagic Sargassum spp. continues and algae is left to decay on the beach in large volumes then deterioration in water quality could affect coral reefs close to shore. Furthermore, barriers placed in lagoons to intercept the Sargassum spp. before it reaches the beach could impact reef fauna if the algae is left to die and sink on site.

Asphalt volcanism and chemosynthetic life in the Campeche Knolls, Gulf of Mexico.

In the Campeche Knolls, in the southern Gulf of Mexico, lava-like flows of solidified asphalt cover more than 1 square kilometer of the rim of a dissected salt dome at a depth of 3000 meters below sea level. Chemosynthetic tubeworms and bivalves colonize the sea floor near the asphalt, which chilled and contracted after discharge. The site also includes oil seeps, gas hydrate deposits, locally anoxic sediments, and slabs of authigenic carbonate. Asphalt volcanism creates a habitat for chemosynthetic life that may be widespread at great depth in the Gulf of Mexico.

Intracranial hemorrhage and oral anticoagulant treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To detect risk factors for intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in patients with long-term oral anticoagulant and to identify clinical or radiological data specific of anticoagulant-related ICH. METHODS AND PATIENTS: Three groups of patients were included. Group 1 represents patients who were admitted because of anticoagulant-related ICH between January 1984 and February 1996. All patients underwent CT scan. Clinical data, anticoagulation parameters, location and volume of the ICH, treatment and the 30-days in-hospital mortality were analyzed. Group 2 consisted of patients selected at random among all patients with spontaneous ICH admitted to our department during the same period of time. Patients without ICH, but regularly taking oral anticoagulants constituted group 3. RESULTS: Seventy-nine patients with anticoagulant-related ICH were compared to 127 patients with spontaneous ICH. The volume of supratentorial ICH was greater in group 1 of patients and was correlated with a worse prognosis. Comparison of group 1 with group 3 (212 controls) demonstrated that length of anticoagulation, prothrombin time or excessive anticoagulation, prior cerebral infarct and use of acénocoumarol, but not age or indication of anticoagulant, were significant risk factors for ICH in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The results emphasize that anticoagulant-related ICH are not clinically different from spontaneous ICH except for volume of bleeding, and that frequent and careful coagulation monitoring is needed, especially during the first year in order to decrease the risk of ICH.

[Pleuropericarditis: early systemic manifestation of an active chronic hepatitis (author's transl)]. / Pleuro-péricardite: manifestation systémique inaugurale d'une hépatite chronique active. A propos d'un cas.

A case of relapsing pleuropericarditis is reported in which no etiological factors were found initially, especially in relation to any possible collagen disease. A retrospective review of the clinical, biological, and histological findings, coupled with the nature of the progression of the disease, suggested to the authors that this was the first expression of a systemic disease which later developed signs of Gougerot-Sjögren's syndrome, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and, three and a half years later, an active chronic hepatitis.

[Clometacine hepatitis. 2 cases (author's transl)]. / Hépatite au clométacine. 2 cas.

Two women (aged 72 and 78 years) developed hepatitis due to clometacine. The main laboratory abnormalities were raised transaminases and blood eosinophil count. In one of these cases, in which the initial histological lesions had the appearance of aggressive chronic hepatitis, there was progression to cirrhosis despite the interruption of treatment. The mechanism of this hepatotoxicity is probably a hypersensitivity reaction.

[Bone, joint, spinal and pelvic-spinal localizations of sarcoidosis (apropos of a case)]. / Les localisations osseuses, articulaires, rachidiennes et pelvi-rachidiennes de la sarcoïdose (à propos d'une observation)

Authors report on one case of particularly flourishing and evolutive sarcoidosis that conditioned numerous manifestations among which stand out lesions interesting one hip and one sacro-iliac articulation and also extensive and destructive bone lesions. This case is for them an opportunity for recalling the major facts related with bone lesions and articular manifestations of sarcoidosis and for calling attention on the spinal and pelvic-spinal involvements. The latter, when signs of bone lysis exist, are evocative of a neoplasm. More often, spondylodiscitis, coexisting sometimes with spindle-like paravertebral pictures, let think of tuberculosis. Confusion would be unavoidable if such facts, in spite of their rareness, were not better known.