Instrument breakage as a complication of elbow arthroscopy in a dog.

CASE REPORT: We describe an unusual complication of a routine arthroscopic procedure to treat fragmentation of the medial portion of the coronoid process in a 1-year-old Labrador Retriever. While the lesion was being curetted, the tip of the arthroscopic curette broke off. Attempts were made to remove it, but failed, and the broken fragment migrated out of the arthroscopic field. Conversion from arthroscopy to arthrotomy was unsuccessful. On intraoperative radiographs, the metallic fragment was detected in the radial fossa of the humeral condyle. A limited surgical approach to this area, guided by ultrasound, also proved ineffective. Finally, the broken curette tip was left in situ. The dog made an uneventful recovery and 6 months after surgery it showed no lameness except after rest and there was no evidence of migration of the metallic fragment on radiographs. CONCLUSIONS: On such occasions, we recommend: (1) stop both the inflow and outflow of fluids; (2) attempt arthroscopic retrieval with a magnetic retriever and large forceps; (3) use diagnostic imaging to localise the broken fragment if it migrates out of the arthroscopic field; and (4) leave in situ if it is no longer accessible to arthroscopic extraction. This is the first report of an instrument breakage during arthroscopy in a dog.

Histiocytoid cardiomyopathy: a cause of sudden death in infancy.

We report the case of an infant aged of 14 months deceased of sudden death. The diagnosis of histiocytoid cardiomyopathy was made on a necropsic basis. The pathologic examination showed a cardiac hypertrophy characterized by yellowish areas with irregular outlines, disseminated in the myocardium, and made of histiocyte-like cells with foamy or granular cytoplasm. These cells reacted positively with desmin and myoglobin labels, and had rare and disorganised myofibrils in electron microscopy, proving their muscular origin. The illness affects infants and usually causes severe cardiac troubles leading to death without treatment. This case is the fourteenth associated with sudden death.

[Electrophysiological study of a family of subjects presenting primary hypertrophic neuritis]. / Etude électrophysiologique d'une famille de sujets présentant une névrite hypertrophique primitive.

Primary hypertrophic neuritis (hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy types I and III) can easily be characterized in affected families by nerve conduction measurement. Such a study is reported in a family with two affected subjects from two successive generations, a man and one of his daughters (type I). Nerve conduction velocities (NCV) were dramatically low (down to 10 m/sec) in three other subjects from the second generation without any obvious clinical symptom. These cases show again the lack of correlation between electrophysiological data and clinical features in these affections. They emphasize the usefulness of electrophysiological diagnosis among subjects without any obvious clinical sign.