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The thyroid blood test (TSH, FT4, FT3) is often prescribed. This test follows specific French guide-lines. The aim of this work was to study whether its prescription, as part of the initial diagnosis of dysthyroidism, complied with the official recommendations at Rouen University Hospital. We also evaluated the evolution of its prescription between 2014 and 2017 at Rouen University Hospital. A descriptive retrospective study was performed on patients who had undergone a thyroid blood test from June 1st, 2017 to June 29th, 2017. Among the 1,143 thyroid blood test used to assess the suitable prescription of the thyroid blood test, 143 did not respect the guide-lines (12.5%). Among the 143 thyroid blood test, 108 (or 75.5%) came from consultation or day hospital units. The significant percentage of thyroid tests that did not comply with the guide-lines is mainly due to the achievement of a "complete thyroid blood test" for reasons of convenience.

Nineteen patients were found to harbor the mitochondrial DNA A3243G mutation associated with MELAS syndrome (Mitochondrial myopathy, Encephalopathy, Lactic Acidosis and Stroke-like episodes). Eight of them had presented with stroke-like episodes and therefore had a clinical diagnosis of MELAS syndrome. The other 11 patients had no strokes and presented with generally less severe multisystemic disease. In the two groups, we compared muscle morphology, biochemical activities of muscle respiratory chain, and genetic characteristics: proportion and tissue distribution of the mutation, sequence of the 22 transfer RNA genes of the mitochondrial DNA. The proportion of mutant mtDNA in muscle was always greater than in blood. The number of patients in the two groups was too low to reach significant values. However, the patients with a MELAS syndrome presented with more severe respiratory chain abnormalities and with a proportion of the A3243G mutation that was both higher and more uniformly distributed among tissues. For symptoms others than stroke-like episodes, we did not observe any correlation with the level of mutant mtDNA in muscle. The analysis of the 22 tRNA sequences did not show differences between the two groups, and no co-inherited modifying tRNA genes could explain the variability of severity in our patients.

Introduction: Tolosa-Hunt syndrome is characterized by painful ophthalmoplegia due to idiopathic granulomatous inflammation of the cavernous sinus. Steroid therapy dramatically reverses the symptoms and clinical signs. Because they also may respond to steroids, tumors such as lymphoma and meningioma and orbital tumors can make differential diagnosis difficult., Exegesis: We report the case of a 78-year-old male patient in whom systemic lymphoma associated with inflammation of the cavernous sinus was uncovered by painful, gradually progressing, ophthalmoplegia mimicking Tolosa-Hunt syndrome., Conclusion: When faced with a clinical picture suggestive of the existence of Tolosa-Hunt syndrome clinical workup is mandatory and should lead to diagnosis of exclusion.

Introduction: Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy is a demyelinating disease resulting from an opportunistic infection of the central nervous system by JC papovavirus. It mostly occurs in patients with an underlying immunosuppressive disorder. In the era of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome it is observed with increasing frequency., Exegesis: We report the case of a non-HIV-infected patient who presented chronic lymphocytic leukemia with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy uncovered by both imaging and the presence of JC virus in the cerebrospinal fluid., Conclusion: Due to the lack of specific treatment, the disease is still rapidly progressive and fatal.

Herpes zoster is uncommonly followed by cerebral infarction. The pathophysiological mechanism remains uncertain. Outcome is favorable after early specific treatment. We report the case of a 70-year-old woman who developed right hemiparesis with aphasia 15 days after thoracic herpes zoster. The herpes zoster induced cerebral vasculitis was hypothesized as no other etiology could be identified after detailed assessment of the cerebral infarction including brain MRI and cerebrospinal fluid study, and as the clinical course responded to antiviral therapy.

Twenty-one patients with active multiple sclerosis (16 progressive and 5 recurrent forms) were treated with murine monoclonal anti-T CD4/BF5 antibodies in an open trial. Tolerance was relatively good; 11 patients had side effects including facial swellings, skin eruptions and trembling which occurred only at the first infusion. Treatment had to be stopped in one female patient. Nine months after initiating treatment, no relapse had occurred in any of the 5 patients with a recurrent form and improvement was observed in 3 patients with a progressive form. At the end of the treatment period, there was a clear drop in the number of CD3+ cells and particularly in CD4+ cells, a decrease which was less after one month. All the patients who had side effects showed an increased level of serum IL6 and alpha TNF. These findings demonstrate that this type of long-term treatment is possible in patients with multiple sclerosis and suggest that in another trial it would be important to evaluate the effect in recurrent forms.

The measurement of plasma amino acid concentrations (50 samples) by gas-chromatography and by ion-exchange chromatography (IEC) indicates that the two methods correlate well. However, IEC provides higher values for proline, threonine and serine. The results are confirmed by the study of normal values obtained in healthy subjects.

The publication of several accidents, possibly due to the reabsorption of irrigation solutions in the course of percutaneous nephrolithotomy, prompted the authors to quantify the amounts of glycine (1.50 per cent glycocol) reabsorbed in these operations, and to determine the metabolic consequences. In a prospective study of twelve patients subjected to fourteen percutaneous nephrolithotomies, the hemodilution parameters (natremia, protidemia, hematocrit and osmolality) and the amino acid content of the plasma were measured preoperatively, at operation, and immediately postoperatively. The study indicates that there is a hemodilution and reabsorption of irrigation solute comparable to that observed in transurethral resections of the prostate. The resultant hyperglycinemia probably explains the significant increase in ammonemia noted in all the patients. One theory is that hepatocellular insufficiency may increase this ammonemia. This might suggest the advisability of using saline solution, at least in these patients (that is, of course, in the absence of electrical lithotrity).