McCune-Albright syndrome with gigantism and hyperprolactinemia

We describe the case of a 38-year-old man with typical Mc Cune-Albright syndrome and the unusual combination of both growth-hormone and prolactin hypersecretion. The patient was extremely tall, which is unusual in Mc Cune-Albright syndrome, suggesting that he did not have precocious fusion of the epiphysis, a common finding in this syndrome. Unfortunately the patient refused any treatment for his disease. A similar case has been previously described only in a 14-year-old boy.

[Role of echography in the study of retroperitoneal tumors]

Fourteen patients affected by primitive retroperitoneal tumors were examined by means of sonography in order to assess the value of this technique in this type of pathology. Ten patients underwent fine needle biopsy, 5 barium meal examination, 2 intravenous pyelography. In 8 patients CT was also performed. Surgical removal or explorative laparotomy followed by histological examination was performed in all patients. Sonography proved reliable in identifying and in assessing the type of the lesion (if associated with fine needle biopsy which was performed in 10 out of 14 patients). Sonography proved little less satisfactory in determining the site and the local extension of the lesion since the huge dimensions of the tumor did not always allow to use those semeiologic signs described in the literature. All tumors examined presented, in fact, as large masses, this fact indicating the scanty progress sonography has taken in the field of the early diagnosis. Since the huge dimensions of these tumors do not always allow a complete surgical removal, and because of their proven tendency of relapsing, the prognosis of these tumors seems to persist unfavourable notwithstanding the widespread use of sonography.

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone-like material in human retina

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)-like material was found in human retina obtained at autopsy from eyes used for corneal grafts. The TRH-like material was extracted with methanol and was found to be indistinguishable from synthetic TRH in its immunoreactivity and bioreactivity and in its proteolytic degradation by fresh human serum. The TRH concentration in human retina was similar to that reported in human cerebral cortex. These data are in keeping with the notion that the retina is an extension of the central nervous system. The physiological function of human retinal TRH in unknown: probably it acts as a neurotransmitter.

Presence of thyrotropin-releasing hormone in porcine and bovine retina

The thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) has been found in porcine and in bovine retina, and it is indistinguishable from synthetic TRH in its immunological and biological properties. The role of retinal TRH is unknown, it probably acts as a neutrotransmitter.

[Use of hydrogen peroxide is combination with drug cocktails in the treatment of thrombophlebitis and its sequelae and of in the treatment of varicose ulcer]

An association of hydrogen peroxide and drug cocktails was given interarterially and by slow arterial in 19 cases of lower extremity phlebopathy. Repair of ulcer lesions, even those of considerable extent, was achieved in a relatively short space of time, together with the disappearance of marked regression of subjective symptoms and local oedema.