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The thymic cysts are benign tumours of the thymo-pharyngeal canal, usually located in the cervico-mediastinal region. The authors report the case of a large thymic cyst with an ectopic right paracardiac location compressing the right heart chambers. It was a chance finding on chest X-ray of an asymptomatic 21 year old man. Though suggestive of a pericardial cyst in view of its position, curative surgical ablation allowed confirmation of the diagnosis at anatomo-pathological examination.

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The existence of a bronchial foreign body is an unusual cause of haemoptysis. We observed a sixty two year-old women who presented several medium-abundance haemoptysis. They were associated with a systematic alveolar-interstitial radiological picture of the ventral upper right lobe. A right upper lobectomy showed that an old bronchial foreign body (piece of bone) was responsible for the systematic intra-alveolar bleeding. Though most of the breathed foreign bodies are expressed into immediate symptoms, some of them remained undiagnosed and may be responsible for haemoptysis, infectious complications, atelectasis and for bronchiectasis. Their extraction through endoscopy or most often surgery is necessary for a proper recovery. In spite of histopathological differences between foreign bodies, broncholithiasis and lung tumor the diagnosis may be difficult clinically and on radiology.

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Erythema dyschromicum perstans (EDP), described by Convit et al. in 1961, is a rare dermatosis. Its relationship with ashy dermatosis (AD), described by Ramirez in 1957, is still a matter of debate. We report a typical case of EDP. The patient, of North African origin, had a dyschromic (hypo- and hyperpigmented) eruption on the chest and limbs for 2 years. The lesions were occasionally surrounded by a papular border which spread slowly and centrifugally. Histological examination showed a lichenoid infiltrate. A carcinoma of the lung was simultaneously discovered. No treatment was given, EDP is infrequent and often considered identical to ashy dermatosis in the literature. However, the clinical aspects of the two diseases differ. The main features of these two diseases are reviewed and compared on the basis of a literature review. We conclude that EDP and AD are distinct clinical entities.

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The authors report a case of acute idiopathic eosinophilic pneumonia, a recently described entity of unknown etiology. The patients develop a rapidly progressive respiratory failure which is reversible following steroid therapy. The key to the diagnosis is an eosinophilia in the broncho-alveolar lavage or in the lung biopsy. Our observation of a favourable outcome in this case without steroid therapy is evidence perhaps of a less aggressive form of the disease.

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We report a study of 8 patients with acute Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection of the respiratory tract admitted to the Army Hospital Desgenettes over a 10 months period. Our clinical observations are compared with a review of the literature. We observed a seasonal outbreak in spring and autumn. This infection was encountered mainly in young people. The two most common clinical findings were cough and fever. Our report describes mild forms of this disease. Definitive etiological diagnosis is based on a four-fold or higher rise in titers. The macrolides or tetracyclines remain the most effective antibiotics.

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Pulmonary disease is an uncommon extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease. We report the case of a patient in whom colectomy for ulcerative colitis was followed by development of bronchiectasis. A discussion of the relation between ulcerative colitis and bronchial disease is presented.

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Ninety patients with histologically documented chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis were randomly allocated to receive SC injections of placebo or of 1 or 3 MU of recombinant interferon alfa-2b three times weekly for 24 weeks. Complete normalization of alanine aminotransferase levels occurred posttreatment in 43.3% of patients receiving 3 MU, in 20% of those receiving 1 MU, and in 6.7% of untreated patients (P less than 0.0005 vs. those treated with 3 MU). Alanine aminotransferase normalization was sustained for 6 months after therapy in 13.3% of the patients treated with 3 MU and in 3.3% of those given 1 MU or placebo. The decline of alanine aminotransferase levels following interferon therapy showed independent, positive correlations with female sex (P less than 0.03) and younger age (P less than 0.05). The Knodell's fibrosis score was strongly positively correlated with age (P less than 0.0001). It is concluded that 3 MU of interferon is a more effective dose than 1 MU for controlling disease activity in non-A, non-B chronic hepatitis patients. Women and younger and noncirrhotic patients are more likely to respond.

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Osteosarcoma is a tumour that is encountered in children and young adults but is exceptional in elderly people. Moreover, it is very rarely located in the chest. A case of costal osteosarcoma revealed by a pleural blood effusion is reported in a 66-year old male patient. Full surgical excision completed by parietal reconstruction was performed. The diagnosis of osteosarcoma was definitely confirmed at pathological examination. A few months later, a local recurrence associated with ipsilateral lung metastasis, was discovered and the patient was put on chemotherapy. The clinical, radiological and therapeutic aspects of this case are discussed.

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We report 2 cases of intrathoracic sarcoidosis associated with tuberculous spondylitis. Although such cases are exceptional, one cannot help wondering whether or not sarcoidosis and tuberculosis are interrelated.

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Clinical expression and outcome of hepatis B virus infections associated with human immunodeficiency virus infection (without AIDS) were studied in 17 homosexuals during 23 months. In an attempt to distinguish the respective impacts of homosexuality from that of human immuno-deficiency virus, patient were compared with a population of homosexual males infected by hepatitis B virus alone. The ratio of biochemical evidence of liver cell necrosis (ALAT)/viral replication (DNAp) was significatively decreased (p less than 0.01), despite evidence of severe histological damage in some cases. Two-thirds of patients with HBV replication tolerated HBV infection at the end of follow-up. This tolerance was significatively more common than in homosexuals infected by HBV alone (p less than 0.01), and did not appear to be related to decreased T4 cell count but seemed to correlate with the existence of the AIDS related complex.

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Severe reactions in exercise-induced asthma (EIA) seem to be underestimated in the published literature. We report two cases of near-miss death from EIA that occurred after a short run. We review 364 exercise tests that were performed between September 1987 and October 1988 by a standardised protocol on a treadmill, on patients with possible EIA. A positive test, defined by a fall of FEV1 of at least 20% was found in 173 patients. From 21 patients with a fall of greater than 50%, 4 presented severe signs of: Cyanosis. Intense dyspnea with impediment of speech. General malaise with hypertension. These 4 patients were not greatly different from patients of the 50% fall group when compared for FEV1 before the test and for heart-rate during the test. They differed in the duration of the asthma attack, which was more protracted, despite the use of beta-2 agonists. The onset of severe reactions is 2.3% of positive tests and seems to be unpredictable.

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Two cases of sarcoidosis associated with pleurisy are presented. The pleural effusion had the same characteristics in both cases. Histology showed non-caseating epithelioid and giant cell granulomas in the parietal pleura. The first case was consistent with sarcoid pleurisy, but in the second case culture of a pleural biopsy specimen fragment demonstrated tuberculous pleurisy. Pleurisy may complicate sarcoidosis in about 2.5% of patients, notably in extensive pulmonary sarcoidosis with extrathoracic lesions. The clinical presentation and the appearance of the pleural fluid are varied. In most cases, a predominantly lymphocytic sero-fibrinous exudate is present. Thorough bacteriological studies, best performed on pleural tissue cultures, must follow the discovery of non-caseating tuberculoid granulomas which are also found in tuberculous pleurisy. Among the various pathogenetic theories considered, the immune reaction theory deserves special mention.

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The data obtained from broncho-alveolar lavage in 12 cases of pulmonary histiocytosis X explored between 1978 and 1986 are reported. The usefulness of this simple and reliable examination to the diagnosis and follow-up is emphasized. The diagnosis, suggested by radiography of the chest, may be suspected on cytological findings of hypercellularity, macrophage alveolitis and eosinophilia. The occurrence of neutrophilic hypergranulocytosis indicates an unfavourable course towards fibrosis. An increase of cells marked with monoclonal OKT6 antibodies (70% of the cases in this series) contributes to the diagnosis of histiocytosis X and is a good indicator of granuloma activity during the follow-up period. Electron microscopy of the alveolar fluid often confirms the diagnosis by showing the specific organelle: the X granule (60% of the cases in this series), thus avoiding exploratory thoracotomy in many patients.

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Twelve cases of bifocal and bilateral bronchial carcinoma are presented. The two tumours developed successively in 6 cases and simultaneously in 6 cases. Patients' mean age (60 years) was the same as in other lung cancers. Four out of 12 patients produced a history of old ENT or skin cancer. In 11 out of 12 cases the second tumour, undetectable by radiology, was discovered at bronchoscopy. In 2 patients the two tumours had a different histology: adenocarcinoma and squamous cell tumour. In all other cases, both tumours were of the squamous cell type. Treatment of the second contralateral tumour was difficult to determine, especially when the first tumour had been widely excised. However, radiotherapy focused on small endobronchial tumours seemed to give interesting results.

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A case-control study carried out in Yaounde (Cameroon) shows that the protective effect of BCG against pulmonary tuberculosis in the young adult was 66% (relative risk 0.34). This result is not affected by taking into account various factors such as sex, age, socio-economic class and geographical origin.

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A retrospective investigation was carried out in March 1984 on files of 447 tubercular patients traced in 1982 in the Unit of Pneumophthisiology of the Jamot Hospital in Yaounde. It demonstrates that: 80% of the patients have a pulmonary localization, 95% of the pulmonary tuberculosis are diagnosed by bacilloscopy often after a long latency, 60% of two-sided forms and 64% of forms with excavation, by radiological examination, 65% of the recorded patients live outside Yaounde, a one year standard treatment follow-up leads to 50% cures, 50% of the patients do not come back before six months and 50% after six months. The epidemiological findings done from this investigation lead to suggest adaptations of the fight-programme relevant to the bacilloscopic tracing, the curative protocols and the BCG vaccination.

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In two patients with non-specific lesions of oesophagitis, malpighian cells infected with type I herpes simplex virus were collected by brush cytology. The cytological appearance was typical of herpes infection. Within a specimen comprising many highly necrotic areas, giant multi-nucleated malpighian cells were seen, with marginate nuclear chromatin and characteristic inclusion bodies in the nuclei. The discovery of herpes lesions in the oesophagus raises important disease questions, both from the point of view of opportunistic infection and the development of cancer.

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