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Ovarian-type mucinous tumors may occasionally occur in the retroperitoneum, pancreas, and liver exclusively or almost exclusively in women. In men, only few cases of such neoplasms arising within or around the testis have been reported. We describe a unique case of an ovarian-type mucinous cystadenoma occurring in the peritoneal cavity of a 65-year-old male patient with secondary adrenocortical insufficiency and hypogonadism. There was a typical fallopian tube enclosed in the capsule of the tumor. Contiguous to that, accessory ectopic epididymal tissue was found. We have interpreted this case as the result of a minor disorder of embryonic development involving structures of both müllerian and wolffian origin. The disproportion of sexual hormones might have had a role in inducing intra-abdominal müllerian remnants to give rise to the mucinous cystadenoma.

The authors tested the Soluene-350 method to detect diatoms in three cases of sea water drowning. The negative results obtained in all three cases prompted us to re-test the method on samples of fresh water and sea water microalgae. The experiment showed that the siliceous frustule of sea water diatoms is solubilized by Soluene-350 while that of fresh water diatoms is resistant to the treatment. The method, which is effective in cases of drowning in fresh water, should therefore be used with caution in sea water drowning.

The Authors, after some preliminary remarks on the methods used, present the first results obtained from a series of histological and immunochemical investigations aimed at defining the presence and the components of the organic substance in human bones of the Iron Age. The first data reveal the existence of common antigenic points between the substances present in the bone extracts and some proteic components of the human serum.

ECG findings and routine laboratory parameters of 173 hospital in-patients aged 90 or older with and without senile cardiac amyloidosis were studied. All patients underwent autopsy. No statistical association could be observed between ECG findings and the presence of senile cardiac amyloidosis at autopsy. Routine serum studies appeared to offer no substantial aid in the diagnosis of this disease. This observation has clinical relevance, in view of the high incidence and clinical severity of senile cardiac amyloidosis in the older population.

HUMAN PATHOLOGY (PHILADELPHIA)