Diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis in Africa.

PURPOSE: Diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis (DUSN) is well known in endemic areas of the southeastern United States, South America, and the northern Midwestern United States. Two different categories of nematodes, according to their length, are related to endemic areas. We report the first case of DUSN caused by a small nematode in Africa. METHODS: We describe the case of a 12-year-old Senegalese girl who presented a long-standing diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis and in whom the worm could be localized. RESULTS: The length of the unidentified worm measured using the software of the fundus camera was approximately 600 microm. This measurement corresponds to the smaller nematode usually found in patients from the southeastern United States and South America. CONCLUSION: Diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis can also be observed in patients living in Africa.

Encephalomyelitis and bilateral optic perineuritis after influenza vaccination.

We report the case of one patient suffering from headache, urinary retention, bilateral optic disc swelling and a mild bilateral visual defect after influenza vaccination. The presumptive diagnosis was encephalomyelitis with bilateral optic perineuritis caused by influenza vaccination. We stress on the interest to search for this aetiology in unexplained optic neuropathy.

[Is treatment with corticotherapy or radiotherapy effective for involvement of ocular motility and for reduction of exophthalmos in Basedow's disease?]. / Le traitement par corticothérapie ou radiotherapie est-il efficace pour l'atteinte de la motilité oculaire et pour la réducion de l'exophtalme dans la maladie de Basedow?

It is acknowledged that high-dose corticotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgical decompression of the orbit are often efficient in dysthyroid optic neuropathy. Corticotherapy and radiotherapy are also given to patients with dysfunction of eye-muscle motility and/or proptosis in the absence of visual loss. The latter indication has been retrospectively evaluated in 13 patients. The limited character of our series is partially explainable by strict inclusion criteria (objective evaluation of muscle dysfunction and proptosis). We failed to demonstrate any significant functional improvement after oral corticotherapy and/or radiotherapy. It thus appears that our study sheds doubt on the actual efficacy of these treatments in patients presenting with not very evolutive involvement of eye-muscle motility. A larger study aimed at comparing the benefits and drawbacks of these treatments is consequently to be encouraged.

Bilateral tonic pupils and polyneuropathy in Sjögren's syndrome: a common pathophysiological mechanism?

One case associating tonic pupils and Sjögren's syndrome is reported. Neurophysiological examination also demonstrated a purely sensory neuropathy. This rare association raises the issue of a common process destroying the ciliary and spinal root ganglia in these patients.

[Optic nerve tract injuries (author's transl)]. / Les traumatismes des voies optiques.

The length of the optic nerve tracts exposes them to damage from cranial injuries. The intraorbital segment of the optic nerve is vulnerable, as bone protection is incomplete and frontal injuries frequent, while indirect lesions of the optic nerve due to trauma raise diagnostic problems in comatose patients. Study of photomotor reflexes and VEP supplies valuable information. Unilateral mydriasis is not a sign of blindness, but of a lesion of the IIIrd nerve, which, may be compressed during engagement of the temporal lobe in the tentorium cerebelli region. The mydriasis indicates the side of the lesion and the need for urgent treatments. Surgical decompression of the optic canal should be performed for indirect optic nerve injuries when visual deficiency appears or becomes worse during the few days following the trauma. Visual loss noted most characteristically in chiasma lesions is bitemporal hemianopsia. In cases of optic nerve injuries, temporal campimetric deficiency in the other eye is evidence of an associated chiasma lesion. The chiasma may also be damaged following apparently mild frontal blows. Campimetric deficiency in retrochiasmatic lesions indicates the side of the lesion and, on some occasions, its precise location.

The effects of nandrolone decanoate on rarefying bone tissue.

The effects of nandrolone decanoate on rarefying bone tissue were studied with the aid of microradiography and fluorescence microscopy in tetracycline-labelled preparations of the rabbit calcaneus and the long bones of old dogs. Osteoporosis was induced in the rabbit calcaneus by resecting of the Achilles tendon. In 20 of the 24 rabbits treated with nandrolone decanoate, the osteoporosis observed was less severe than in 8 untreated controls. Furthermore, in comparison with the controls, the signs of active osteogenesis in the treated groups increased systematically. In the old dogs, nandrolone decanoate caused a new opposition, identified by tetracycline labelling, to appear at the periphery of the medullary cavity. All the observations suggest that nandrolone decanoate has a favourable effect on osteogenetic phenomena and probably an inhibitory action on bone resorption. Consequently, nandrolone decanoate is capable of preventing or, at least, of partially correcting losses of bone mass.