[Pseudotumor of the right atrium caused by hernia of the valve of Vieussens]. / Pseudo-tumeur de l'oreillette droite par hernie de la valvule de Vieussens.

A round swelling was on the substraction films of the right side of the heart taken during angiocardiographic examination of a patient with mitral valve disease; this suggested a mass attached to the inter-atrial septum, and prolapsing into the auricle of the right atrium. Initial diagnsosi was of atrial thrombosis, but this was disproved at operation. An aneurysm of the membrane of the fossa ovalis was found, being caused by overstretching of the auricle of the left atrium under the increased pressure of the valve defect. The aneurysm was resected and the septum simply repositioned as part of the mitral valve replacement. A search of the literature shows how rare this disorder is, and that it should be reclassified with the abnormalities of the inter-atrial septum which are found only rarely in cases of mitral valve disease.

[The influence of preoperative irradiation on postoperative complications in surgical treatment of carcinoma of the esophagus]. / Influence de l'irradiation pre-opératoire sur les complications du traitement chirurgical du cancer de l'oesophage.

Over a 15 year period, the authors operated upon 650 patients suffering from carcinoma of the oesophagus. Amongst them, 185 underwent pre-operative irradiation. The latter appears to increase the percentage in whom excision was possible. By contrast, the occurence rate of postoperative complications is essentially the same in both groups of patients apart from chylothorax which was more common in the irradiated subjects.

[Pre-operative irradiation in the treatment of cancers of thoracic esophagus]. / L'irradiation pré-opératoire dans le traitement des cancers de l'oesophage thoracique

The authors analyse an homogeneous series (2 operators) of 650 patients operated on for thoracic oesophageal carcinoma, of which 185 were submitted to pre-operative irradiation with cobalt. Irradiation led to a definite increase in the resectability rate 74 p. 100 as against 62 p. 100. There was an increase in the mid-term survival rate, especially an increase of 5 p. 100 at 2 years, 8 p. 100 at 3 years, 6 p. 100 at 4 years; The 5 survival rate was little modified. It was 12 p. 100 for 290 cases, resection alone, and 15 p. 100 for 137 resections after irradiation.