A case of cystic meningioma mimicking an astrocytoma

Summary In a 25-year-old woman, suddenly complaining of irritation and soon after of paretic symptoms in the right upper limb, a CT scan showed a large cystic mass in the left parietal lobe. As cerebral angiography was not helpful, a cystic astrocytoma was suspected. After total surgical removal of the cyst, the histological examination revealed, to our surprise, a syncytial meningioma. The rare cases of similar cystic meningioma reported in the literature are reviewed and the usefulness of biopsy on every suspected cerebral neoplasm is stressed.

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Zusammenfassung Eine 25jährige Patientin klagte zunächst über Gereiztheit und wies bald eine Parese des rechten Armes auf. Die Computertomographie des Schädels zeigte einen großen zystischen raumfordernden Prozeß im linken Parietallappen. Eine Arteriographie erlaubte keine Präzisierung, und es wurde deshalb ein zystisches Astrozytom vermutet. Nach vollständiger chirurgischer Exstirpation der Zyste ergab die histologische Untersuchung den überraschenden Befund eines synzitialen Meningeoms. Es werden die seltenen zystischen Meningeome der Literatur diskutiert, und es wird betont, wie nützlich eine Biopsie bei jedem Hirntumor sein kann.

     

A comparative study of sodium,potassium and bilirubin in maternal and cord blood

Summary Analysis of serum sodium of 12 normal non-pregnant, 64 normal pregnant, 10 pre-eclampsia and 18 mothers of premature babies showed no statistically significant variations. Cord blood was found to exhibit sodium levels identical to that of the mothers’ blood. Serum potassium of the mothers did not show any variation from normal. Serum potassium of cord blood showed a slight increase relative to the mother’s values and this increase was found to be statistically significant. While the maternal blood samples did not exhibit any direct bilirubin, many samples of cord blood had direct bilirubin. A possible explanation for this is offered in the light of recent advances in bile pigment chemistry. From the Department of Biochemistry, Guntur Medical College, Guntur.     

Transport of electrolytes and water in the upper jejunum of the fowl in vivo perfusion

The mechanism(s) of electrolytes (J _Na,J _Cl,J _Ca andJ _K) and water transport (J _v) were studied in the upper jejunum of the laying hen by an in vivo perfusion procedure. Water secretion is modified by the difference of osmotic pressure between the lumen and plasma and we have estimated the osmotic permeability coefficient (P osm=17.4 l×h^–1×mosm^–1×g^–1 DW) and the reflexion coefficient (0.72). At sodium concentrations of 0 and 80 mM×l^–1 in the lumen, there is a large secretion of Na. When the water flow is modified by osmotic pressure, this secretion is markedly influenced byJ _v. Similarly net chloride flux occurred mainly by solvent drag.Conversely water flow does not modify the large potassium absorption along the concentration gradient and only slightly affects the flux of calcium. Transport of calcium occurred along the gradient of concentration between lumen and plasma without saturation until a lumen concentration of 20 mM×l^–1. This driving force seemed to be the main one sinceJ _Ca is close to zero when these is no gradient. This observation supports the hypothesis that the variations of net Ca absorption during the laying cycle is due to a modification of concentration of soluble calcium in the contents of the intestine.