REASON FOR PERFORMING STUDY:Coxofemoral joint pain is probably underestimated due to difficulties in identifying hip pain. The deep location of the joint and proximity of the sciatic nerve make arthrocentesis based on external landmarks a difficult and potentially risky procedure in mature horses.OBJECTIVES:To describe an ultrasound-guided injection technique of the coxofemoral joint in standing horses and to evaluate its accuracy and potential difficulties/complications.METHODS:Nine mature horses had both pelvic areas prepared for sterile ultrasound examination (3.5 MHz curvilinear probe). Coxofemoral joints were located and penetrated at their craniodorsolateral aspect under ultrasonographic guidance and injected with sterile contrast medium. A standing ventrodorsal radiographic view of each hemipelvis centred on the hip was obtained for each horse to assess the injection site. Horses were evaluated for 10 days following injection for possible complications.RESULTS:Intra-articular injection was successful in all 18 joints. The procedure was well tolerated by horses under minimal restraint. Mean +/- s.d. needle repositionings required before accurate placement was 1.5 +/- 1.3 per joint. Once the needle was in the joint, synovial fluid was obtained in 7/18 joints. Minimal periarticular contrast medium was detected in 2/18 joints. Mean +/- s.d. ultrasonographic examination time required for coxofemoral localisation, accurate needle positioning and injection was 4.3 +/- 2.1 min. No complications were observed in the 10 days following injection.CONCLUSION:The ultrasound-guided coxofemoral arthrocentesis is an accurate, reliable and safe technique that offers a real time evaluation of needle introduction into the deep and narrow coxofemoral joint space.POTENTIAL RELEVANCE:Although this technique remains to be tested on clinical cases, it is a promising tool to facilitate diagnosis of coxofemoral pain, septic arthritis or administration of intra-articular medication.

In order to understand the nature of interspecific barriers in Populus, we have explored pollen/pistil interactions in intra- and interspecific crosses Populus nigra x P. nigra and P. nigra x P. alba. The kinetics of pollen-tube growth demonstrated that P. nigra and P. alba pollen tubes have distinct behavioral patterns inside P. nigra pistils. P. alba pollen tubes exhibit an unique S-shaped growth curve and an arrested growth site near the sylodium. P. nigra pollen tubes exhibit two growth phases, in the stigmatic tissues and in the ovarian cavity respectively. P. nigra and P. alba curves diverge 5 h after controlled pollination and could be related to a change in the physiology of the P. nigra pollen tube, which shifts from an autotrophic to a heterotrophic type of nutrition. Protein analysis of pollinated stigmatic extracts (0,6 and 20 h after pollination) revealed qualitative and quantitative differences that are related to the presence of either P. nigra or P. alba pollen tubes inside the stigmatic tissues. Increasing numbers of protein bands were detectable from 0 to 20 h after pollination only in intraspecific cross. Glycoproteins were detected, and the differences observed were dependent of the cross. β-Galactosidase activity was found in pollinated stigmas, but an increase in its activity (one isozyme of pHi 4.2) between 6 h and 20 h after pollination was detected only in the intraspecific cross. This enzyme could play a role in heterotrophic pollen-tube nitrition, and its activity could be the final result of a series of interactions started by the initial pollen-stigma dialog.

Intramandibular salivary inclusions and ectopia concern the main salivary glands. The most common takes the form of a regular well-defined lacunar appearance situated at the mandibular angle or molar region. This asymptomatic inclusions is in fact only the imprint of a lobule of the sub-mandibular gland on the mandible. More rarely, the parotid gland and sublingual gland may also be responsible for a lacunar radiological appearance in the mandible. By contrast, a few ectopic glandular lobules of the sublingual may be completely induced at the site of the mandibular symphsis. Salivary inclusions and ectopia thus result from two different aerio-pathogenic mechanisms.

The diagnosis of a mucoepidermoid tumor of the mandible has been made by pathological examination. This asymptomatic tumor was discovered on a routine radiographic film. Our 44 years old male patient was treated by surgical means. We have found 62 cases in the literature; intra-osseous cases of mucoepidermoid tumor seem to be rather scarce. Let us recall the presence of salivary glands in the mandible, a possible explanation of the occurrence of intra-osseous glandular tumor.

Les lésions bucco-pharyngées d’origine médicamenteuse, qu’elles soient dues à un traitement local ou général, sont de plus en plus fréquentes. Elles sont souvent associées à d’autres lésions, en particulier cutanées, mais elles peuvent également être isolées ou précéder les autres manifestations d’intolérance. Elles se présentent sous des aspects cliniques très divers; de plus, le même médicament peut être responsable de lésions différentes.

Stomatodynies are functional manifestations often observed in anxious and depressive individuals, in the form of glosso-, cheilo-, uranodynia. It may show itself in disturbances of the mucosa or of salivary secretion. It is necessary to reassure the patients, to explain the nature of the disease and to prevent them from autotherapy of local or psychic factors.

These 8 cases of multiple hamartoma syndrome are the first reported in Switzerland. Two men aged respectively of 65 and 28 years presented a cobblestone appearance of the gingiva and of the tongue ("pebbly tongue"), which suggested Cowden disease. This diagnosis was confirmed by the discovery of numberous skin lesions, a thyroid goiter, gastrointestinal polyposis, and a mild skelettal dysmorphosis. The older patient had a grade one carcinoma of the bladder; his son and his daughter presented the syndrome, which was also discovered in the family of the second patient (his father, his brother, his sister and one of her daughters). The ultrastructural study of two skin biopsies demonstrated anomalies of the fibroblasts and collagen fibers.

Described by Lloyd and Dennis in 1963, Cowden's disease is a familial affection in which are found associated lesions of the buccopharyngeal mucosa (papillomatosis, papules, scrotal tongue), various types of skin lesions (verruciform keratotic papules, papilloma, lipoma, angioma, etc...), visceral manifestations usually related to lesions in the thyroid, breasts, or digestive tract (hamartoma or malignant tumors), and skeletal dysmorphism. The two patients were from different families, were aged 65 and 28 years, and had presented for consultation because of buccal mucous membrane papillomatosis, and in one case, hemorrhagic gingivitis. Cowden's disease was diagnosed from the clinical examination, past history, and investigations after hospital admission. The main value of the mucosal and cutaneous lesions is their diagnostic significance, enabling a synthesis of the multiple dispersed manifestations to be made, and a possible visceral tumor to be discovered in the early stages.

Cat liver homogenates have been fractionated by differential centrifugation. Four particulate fractions (1 000 X g, 10 000 X g, and 145 000 X g) and a supernatant have been obtained. The biochemical composition of these fractions has been established from the assay and distribution pattern of 22 enzymatic and chemical constituents including marker enzymes for mitochondria, lysosomes, peroxisomes, plasma membranes, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and cell sap. The microsomal fraction was characterized by a moderate contamination with large cytoplasmic granules and by a low yield in protein and cholesterol. It contained 50 per cent of Golgi complex and about 40 per cent of plasma membranes. Morphological analysis of subcellular fractions was performed and confirmed biochemical results.