[Ocular melanoma: immunohistochemical evaluation of the potentially predictive markers of prognosis. Preliminary results]. / Mélanome oculaire: évaluation immunohistochimique de marqueurs potentiellement prédictifs du pronostic. Résultats préliminaires.

PURPOSE: To study the characteristics of certain biological parameters, many of which have been recently discovered, to assess their possible contribution to the prognosis of ocular melanoma. MATERIAL: and methods: 25 patients with ocular and orbital melanoma treated at the Reims Regional Hospital since 1993 were included in the retrospective study. The surgical specimens were put in formalin 10%, then in paraffin. Five proteins were analyzed retrospectively: topoisomerase I, topoisomerase IIalpha, ICBP90, Ki67, and P53 on 200 cells per case. RESULTS: Of the 25 tumors from 14 men and 11 women, 15 were iris and ciliary body melanomas and ten choroidal melanomas. Histopathologic analysis showed 12 spindle-cell-type melanomas, seven epithelioid-cell-type melanomas and six mixed-cell-type melanomas. The immunohistochemical study found a significant difference in distribution between the cellular types for the topoisomerase IIalpha and Ki67 antibodies. Eight patients had metastasis, six of whom died. The metastasis came from three mixed-cell-type melanomas, three epithelioid-cell-type melanomas, and two spindle-cell-type melanomas. On the other hand, six cases of sclera infiltration were discovered among these eight patients. CONCLUSION: Several prognostic factors seem to be involved in the progression of melanoma: sclera infiltration seems to be essential in our study. Its rate seems to increase with the tumor size and in epithelioid-cell-type melanomas. The correlation between the different immunomarkers and the appearance of metastasis has not yet been verified.

Prevención de las inundaciones urbanas: el caso de Vaux- Le- Penil (Seine et Marne) Francia

En la región parisina se vienen produciendo desde hace algunas décadas inundaciones urbanas, resultado de grandes precipitaciones pluviales. Tales inundaciones son propias a estilos de urbanización en los que se utilizan técnicas de saneamiento que no toman en cuenta el régimen fluvial de las aguas situadas río arriba con respecto a las poblaciones afectadas. La experiencia de Vaux- Le- Pénil ilustra cómo se puede evitar con costos razonales, que la urbanización de nuevos sectores origine inundaciones que resultan perjudiciales para los habitantes, tanto colectiva como individualmente

[Atheromatous thromboses of the superficial femoral artery. (Apropos of 400 surgically treated cases)]. / Thromboses athéromateuses de l'artère fémorale superficielle. (A propos de 400 cas opérés)

The authors report a consecutive series of 400 cases of atheromatous thrombosis of the femoral artery operated on between 1962 and 1972, which gave them an overall idea of the results of surgical treatment with a certain follow-up. This study confirms the importance of the state of the vascular bed beyond the obstruction in the maintenance of permeability after the operation. There are 50 p. 100 long-term failures when the thrombosis extends into the popliteal artery. On the other hand, lesions above the thrombosis, in the aortic or iliac arteries, have little influence on the final result, provided they are treated during the same operation. Lumbar sympathectomy alone gave very poor results but one should note that, in this series, it was reserved for the cases with the poorest prognosis, when any other operation was impossible or contra-indicated. In extreme cases, revascularisation alone of the profunda femoris permitted us in almost all cases to save the limb, leaving intact the symptoms of obstruction of the superficial femoral artery, in particular, intermittent claudication.