Chorioretinal folds and a macular hole secondary to craniofacial surgery

Chorioretinal folds have been reported as a result of many intraocular and extraocular inflammatory processes or tumors. Visual loss is usually secondary to a combination of the underlying process and chorioretinal folds involving the macula. We report a patient who developed decreased vision, metamorphopsia, chorioretinal folds, and a lamellar macular hole secondary to global compression by a bone fragment. The chorioretinal folds regressed and his vision stabilized following surgical decompression. Chorioretinal folds and lamellar macular hold formation are previously unrecognized complications of reconstructive craniofacial surgery.     

Childhood cancer registries in France

Following the well-known European CCRs of Manchester and Turin, 2 regional CCRs have been recently created in France: in Nancy (1983) and Marseille (1984); both are population based CCRs, covering respectively 535,200 and 809,200 children (0-14 yrs). All malignant neoplasms are included, as well as brain tumours (whatever grading) and borderline malignancies. Data are collected from medical and administrative sources. Registration is active and every source is recontacted annually. The registries contact all physicians who might include children among their patients (private and hospital practice), and laboratories of pathology-cytology. The University Hospital Centers and Anti-Cancer Centers in adjacent regions, and in Paris are contacted. Death certificates for children dying of a malignant neoplasm are also sent to the registry. Data collected are as follows: name, age, sex, address, date and method of diagnosis, histological type, anatomical site, stage, treatment and sources of information. We added the data of a general cancer registry, created in Strasbourg in 1975 and covering 205,900 children. reliability of the methodology is attested by the similarity of the results obtained in other European, US and Australian CCRs. In conclusion, this type of registry is needed to organize multicentric epidemiological studies about the role of etiological factors, the survival, and the long term sequelae.     

Cardiovascular risk factors in the population of 2 regions covered by the MONICA-France regions: Strasbourg and Toulouse

Cardiovascular risk factors were studied from 1985 to 1987 in two population samples from the French regions of the Bas-Rhin (BR) (Strasbourg) and the Haute-Garonne (HG) (Toulouse). 1,257 men and women in the BR and 1,323 in the HG, aged 35-64, participated in the survey. A common investigation methodology in harmony with the MONICA protocol, was used. The mean weight was higher among the male (5 kg) and female (6 kg) populations living in the BR than in the HG. Even after age, body mass index and tobacco consumption adjustments, arterial systolic blood pressure was higher in the male population of the BR (145 mm Hg) than in the HG (133 mm Hg). Similar differences were observed among the female population. A higher proportion of hypertensive subjects whatever the sex and the age group was noted in the BR. The proportion of smokers, and the quantity of tobacco they smoked, did not differ between the two centers. Adjusted total cholesterolemia was higher in the HG, with mean differences of 0.32 mmol/l among the men and 0.35 mmol/l among the women. In the case of HDL cholesterol, the differences were 0.23 mmol/l among the men and 0.34 mmol/l among the women, explaining in large part the differences of the mean levels of total cholesterol.