Stroke as initial manifestation of relapsing polychondritis.

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare vasculitide characterized by recurrent inflammation of cartilagenous structures (auricular, nasal, laryngotracheal, articular) and specific sense organs (eyes and ear). Neurological complications are exceptional. We report the case of an elderly and previously well woman who presented with inflammatory syndrome and stroke as the first manifestations of this disease.

[Paretic syndrome of spinal stenosis]. / Le syndrome parétique du canal lombaire étroit.

We report a case of painless progressive leg amyotrophy without intermittent claudication due to spinal lumbar stenosis. Our attention was drawn to the lumbar region because of the discrepancy between normal leg sensory potentials and altered somatosensory evoked potentials, prompting us to perform a myelography. The rapid though partial, clinical improvement following decompressive surgery suggested that some of the symptoms may have been due to a reversible nerve conduction block.

Scales for measuring fear of AIDS and homophobia.

Two scales, one for measuring attitudes toward the fear of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and one for measuring attitude toward homosexuality, were constructed using Thurstone's method of equal-appearing intervals. After construction, the scales were given to 528 students at the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 1985 to determine their respective reliabilities. Factor analyses were also done to determine what factors underlie the attitudes measured by the two scales and to determine if fear of AIDS and homophobia are in fact simply two facets of the same attitude: fear of homosexuals. The results indicated high reliabilities of both scales and a relatively low correlation between the two scales suggesting that the scales do measure different attitudes.