Tuberculoma of the brain stem: control of relapses by steroid therapy. Case report

✓ A tuberculoma is reported, with an acute onset and a recurring course of remissions. The successful use of steroid therapy is discussed.

Subarachnoid ependymal cyst. Report of two cases

✓ Two cases of subarachnoid ependymal cyst of developmental origin are described. Both were located in the Sylvian region, were lined with ciliated columnar epithelial cells, and had no communication with the ventricular system. Both were successfully removed at surgery.

Hypertension and hyperparathyroidism

Of 40 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism 13 were hypertensive. Nine presented with hypertension and, of these, seven were discovered to have hyperparathyroidism by the routine determination of serum calcium in 900 patients referred for investigation of hypertension. The association of hypertension and hyperparathyroidism is well recognized but the cause is in doubt. The incidence of primary hyperparathyroidism in patients with hypertension is about 1 in 130, which is considerably higher than in the general population (1 in 1,000-2,000). All patients with hypertension should have a routine serum calcium estimation. Parathyroidectomy in these otherwise asymptomatic cases may prevent renal damage.

Transformation of corticosterone in the foetal and placental compartments of the rat

3H-Corticosterone was administered subcutaneously in vivo and in situ to 32 rat foetuses at 16–18 days of gestation. 30 min after the injection, 11% of the administered dose was localized in the liver tissue, 5% in the lungs, 3% in the intestines and 5% in the placenta. The foetal tissues were separated into different subcellular fractions: I) nucleo-fibrillar, II) mitochondrial-microsomal, and III) cytosol. It was observed that corticosterone was extensively metabolized in all three of these subcellular fractions. The following metabolites were identified in a radiochemically pure form: 11-dehydrocorticosterone, 5α-dihydrocorticosterone, tetrahydrocorticosterone, 5α-tetrahydrocorticosterone. Quantitative evaluation of the corticosterone metabolites showed that the greatest part of these steroids consisted of dihydro- and tetrahydrocorticosterone derivatives, principally with a 5α configuration.

In the liver tissues, 0.5 % of the radioactive material was found in a conjugated form, mainly as ester sulphates. The radioactive material liberated after solvolysis of these conjugates was tentatively identified as corticosterone, 5α-dihydrocorticosterone and 5α-tetrahydrocorticosterone.