Appendicoliths are considered to be strong indicators of appendicitis and the complications of appendicitis. We report the case of a 29-year-old woman who underwent a laparoscopic appendectomy for appendicitis with an appendicolith. The appendix was divided with a single ligature at the appendiceal base, and an appendicolith escaped into the pelvis. Thereafter, the patient suffered recurrent pelvic abscess. The diagnosis of retained appendicolith was made by repeated CT scans that revealed a mobile spontaneous calcification within the abscess. This postoperative complication could have been avoided if a systematic division of the appendix had been performed between double ligatures.

Chylous ascites is a rare case of peritonitis. We report here a case arising in a 21-year-old lady.

Chylous ascites is a rare case of peritonitis. We report here a case arising in a 21-year-old lady.

INTRODUCTION:HPLC plasma methoxyamines measurements are the updated technique for the diagnosis of adrenergic hypersecretion. Their reliability meets that of urinary measurements. Significance of increased values is not yet fully established for the etiological diagnosis of hypertension in some situations, especially in case of renal insufficiency and in the peri-operative period. The aim of this study is to define the "normal" range of the values of plasma methoxyamines in both of those conditions.PATIENTS AND METHODS:in a General and Endocrine Surgical Unit, 3 homogeneous group of 20 patients each have been studied: group 1, control (patients awaiting thyroidectomy); group 2, patients on maintenance hemodialysis submitted for hyperparathyroidism; group 3, patients submitted to digestive surgery. Measurements were done pre-operatively in group 1, pre and post-operatively in group 2, and post-operatively in group 3.RESULTS:in comparison to the control (11.8 nmol/l), we observed in group 2 a 18 fold increase preoperatively, and a 29 fold increase at post-operative day 1. In group 3, we observed a 2.3, 2.7 and 2 fold increase at post-operative days 1,2 and 3 respectively. All those results were statistically significant.CONCLUSION:Results of measurements of plama methoxyamines should always be matched to the serum creatinine levels. They are meaningful for the diagnosis of endocrine origin of hypertension only late after the early post-operative period.

Le porc pourrait constituer un modele de choix pour l'etude pre-clinique de la greffe d'ilots chez le gros animal. But de l'etude : la fonction prolongee des ilots porcins purifies apres autotransplantation intraportale chez des porcs pancreatectomises. Methodes : une pancreatectomie totale a ete realisee chez 4 mini-porcs adultes (36 ± 5 kg). Les ilots ont ete isoles par une methode automatisee suivie d'une purification par centrifugation dans un gradient densite (Euroficoll), puis transplantes immediatement apres l'isolement dans la veine porte. Le metabolisme glucidique a ete evalue et compare a celui de 4 porcs controles pancreatectomises. Resultats : les animaux pancreatectomises ont ete sacrifies apres 2 semaines et leur glycemie a jeun etait superieure a 350 mg/dl. Le rendement moyen ± e.s.m. de l'isolement etait de 230 ± 60 x 10 3 ilots equivalents. Chez 3 porcs sur 4, l'autotransplantation des ilots (5650 ± 1317 ilots equivalents/kg) a permis la normalisation de la glycemie a jeun (suivi maximal : 6 mois). Le coefficient de decroissance du glucose apres injection intraveineuse de glucose (0,5 g/kg) etait de - 1,38 ± 0,16 avant la pancreatectomie, - 0,35 ± 0,04 chez les animaux controles, - 0,48 ± 0,02 une semaine apres l'autotransplantation et - 0,94 ± 0,29 apres 1 mois et - 0,83 ± 0,33 apres 3 mois (p < 0,05 vs controles). Conclusion : l'autotransplantation des ilots porcins a permis la survie prolongee et la normalisation de la glycemie chez des porcs pancreatectomises et a confirme la qualite des ilots obtenus apres isolement.