[Ultrasound guided percutaneous drainage of splenic abscesses]. / Drenaje percutáneo de abscesos esplénicos guiado por ecografía.

We present our experience of ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage with a catheter in 5 splenic abscesses. All the cases were resolved and there was only one relevant complication. The advantages of this treatment compared with surgery and isolated medical treatment are discussed and this technique is proposed as the treatment of choice.

[Focal nodular hyperplasia: characterization with Doppler ultrasonography]. / Hiperplasia nodular focal: caracterización con ultrasonografía Doppler.

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is an hepatic pseudotumoral lesion which is usually detected accidentally in subjects of any age. Definitive diagnosis requires histologic study, prior to analysis with imaging techniques. Three casos of FHN are presented characterized with Doppler ultrasonography in whom high frequency and low resistance central pulse flow were observed in contrast with the findings obtained in other benign hepatic lesions.

[Analysis of the Doppler signal (color and pulsed) in hepatocarcinoma]. / Análisis de la señal Doppler (color y pulsado) en el hepatocarcinoma.

Real time echocardiography associated with pulsed Doppler (duplex) and color (triplex) provide a non invasive technique to determine the vascular morphology of a lesion. The duplex and triplex signal of 35 liver tumors, 23 hepatocarcinomas and 12 angiomas found in the first high frequency signals greater than 1.81 kHz and traced with pulsatile or mixed morphology (pulsed and continuous) were analyzed. The second signals were of low frequency, less than 1 kHz and continuous tracing. It may be concluded than echo-Doppler is a complementary technique to conventional echography and is useful in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Naphthaquinones of Diospyros batocana.

Root bark of West African tree Diospyros batocana Hiern, Ebenaceae, was examined. On the basis of chromatographic and spectral analysis it was shown to contain the naphtaquinones 7-methyljuglone, 2-methylnaphthazarin, biramentaceone, rotundiquinone, mamegakinone, diospyrin, diosquinone, isodiospyrin and batocanone. This last compound proved to be the (-)-enantiomer of isodiospyrin-2', 3'-epoxide. The probable existence of beta-dihydrodiospyrin, of a batocanone isomer and of an isodiospyrin diepoxide in this material is mentioned. The partial synthesis of two isomeric isodiospyrin di-epoxides is described.

Urinary adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate in the switch process from depression to mania.

Marked elevations of urinary adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate occurred on the day of rapid switch from a depressed into a manic state in patients with manic-depressive illness. It is suggested that this increase might serve a trigger function for the process by which catecholamines are elevated during the manic phase of the illness.