Comparative trial of an antihistamine, mequitazine, and placebo.

Forty patients suffering from a dermatological condition suitable for treatment with an antihistamine were studied in a double-blind randomized trial to compare the effectiveness and tolerance of mequitazine and placebo. Over a period of 2 weeks, patients received either 5 mg mequitazine twice daily or placebo. Where justified, patients were also given concomitant topical treatment but only with a hydrating cream or ichthyol paste. Patients' overall response to treatment was significantly better in the mequitazine group, whether the results were analyzed for all patients or those receiving just the trial drugs without topical treatment. Few side-effects were reported and there was no significant difference between the levels of drowsiness experienced with mequitazine compared with placebo.

[Reticulohistiocytosis of benign evolution (Hashimoto-Pritzker type). Electron microscopy study]. / Réticulo-histiocytose d'évolution bénigne (type Hashimoto-Pritzker). Etude en microscopie électronique

We describe a rare form of histiocytosis, characterized by numerous tumoral lesions of the skin appearing at birth and desappearing spontaneously within 2 month without visceral lesions and without systemic symptoms. Light microscopy shows histiocytes, some of which contain an irregular nucleus with a spumous cytoplasm surrounded by many red blood cells. Electron microscopy shows myelinoid inclusions in the histiocyte cytoplasm and "vermiform" bodies. In our opinion, a similar anatomoclinical entity was described for the first time and only once by Hashimoto and Pritzker.

[Value of screening for gonorrhea at a family planning consultation (author's transl)]. / Recherche systématique de la blennorragie dans une consultation de planning familial

We report the result of an investigation carried out in the Gynecology Policlinic of Geneva. Systematic screening of 217 patients led to the detection of 2 cases of gonorrhea. Although of interest, it is not justifiable economically to screen for gonorrhea a group of patients in whom the chances of infection are small. However, the study of a larger population might lead to a revision of this conclusion.