Effect of combined androgen blockade with an LHRH agonist and flutamide in one severe case of male exhibitionism

A severe exhibitionist has been treated with the combination of an LHRH agonist and the antiandrogen flutamide in order to maximize androgen blocking and to control his severe deviant behaviour. The results obtained show that the androgen blockade ended his exhibitionistic behaviour and markedly decreased his sexual fantasies and activities, especially masturbation, without significant side effects.     

Self-expanding endoprostheses. Applications in iliac and femoro-popliteal arteries

Vascular endoprosthesis are aimed at optimizing the results of angioplasty. They are metallic cylinders, most often meshed, laid against the wall of the vessel and progressively incorporated into the intima by endothelial coverage. Experimental studies show that this incorporation occurs within a few weeks. The prosthesis are either self-expanding or mounted on a dilatation balloon. Their aim is to restore a good-quality caliber by smoothing the parietal irregularities that were frequently encountered after dilatation. They are a true parietal prop, inserted into the arterial lumen through a percutaneous approach. The middle-term results of iliac and femoropopliteal implants are very encouraging, and they suggest that this technique may be a very useful complement to transluminal angioplasty in cases of poor results or recurrence. The insertion of an endoprosthesis also allows to extend the indications of transluminal angioplasty to cases that had been regarded as hardly favorable so far: long, irregular stenosis, iliac obliteration, etc.     

The serological diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection: a comparison of complement fixation, haemagglutination and immunofluorescence

A total of 193 sera were examined for antibody to Mycoplasma pneumoniae by three techniques - complement fixation (CF), haemagglutination (HA) and immunofluorescence (IF), the last method being used to assess IgM, IgG and IgA antibodies. The most reliable single test for diagnosis was HA, and the most useful combination of tests was HA with IF (IgM and IgG). The IgA IF was not found to be diagnostically helpful.     

Fibrinogen-fibrin transformation in situ in renal cell carcinoma

The mechanism of coagulation activation in renal cell carcinoma was investigated using immunohistochemical techniques applied to fresh frozen sections of resected primary tumors. Tissue factor antigen was detected in the endothelium of vascular channels within the tumors. Fibrinogen and factor V were distributed diffusely in the perivascular tumor connective tissue. Fibrin was readily detected in a linear pattern along the edges of nodules of viable tumor indicating that thrombin had formed from the interaction of coagulation factors demonstrated previously in renal cell carcinoma tissue. Tissue plasminogen activator was detected in the endothelium of blood vessels in the vicinity of the tumor and urokinase in areas of necrosis but neither were associated with viable tumor cells. These results indicate that thrombin is formed locally in renal cell carcinoma tissue that transforms fibrinogen to fibrin. There also appears to be a net deficit in fibrinolysis in situ in this tumor. We postulate that these conditions might contribute to stabilization and progression of renal cell carcinoma and that clinical trials of antithrombotic agents are justified in this tumor type.