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A case of neuromyopathy due to chronic chloroquine intoxication is reported. The neuromyopathy developped 9 months after malaria suppression therapy with chloroquine was started. The clinical picture was that of a peripherical neuropathy in the lower limbs and of a generalized myasthenic syndrome. Muscular biopsy showed typical pictures of "vacuolar myopathy". The metabolism of the drug was normal. The patient improved soon after chloroquine was discontinued.

The signs, symptoms and courses of 64 cases of "primary" haematoma of the basal ganglia have been retrospectively studied, and the main clinical data have been analyzed in relation to the location and extent of the bleeding. Onset with hemiplegia, accompanied or not by impaired consciousness, was more frequent with intermediate and lateral haematomas than with medial haematomas (p less than 0.001). Among patients with initial hemiplegia, impaired consciousness was more frequent with intermediate and medial haematomas than with lateral haematomas (p less than 0.005). At a later stage, patients with intermediate and lateral haematomas more often went into deep coma than those with medial haematomas (p less than 0.01). There were no statistically significant differences between the three anatomical groups with regard to frequency of other signs and symptoms or duration of the disease before death occurred.

A series of 247 cases with simple and apparently primitive cerebral hemorrhages selected from the pathological records of Charles Foix laboratory from 1962 to 1977 is reviewed with regard to the accuracy of the premortem diagnosis as a function of the size, the location and the age of the bleeding, the patient's age, the practices of angiography or lumbar puncture and the considered period of death. The clinical diagnosis of cerebral vascular disease was made in 75% of the cases from that serie but the hemorrhagic mechanism was identified only in 50,6% of cases. The diagnosis accuracy was enhanced in large and recent hemorrhages occuring in patients under 70 years old. It seemed better in cerebellar and intermediate locations. It was enhanced in more recent observations (collected since 1974). The practice of cerebral angiography and lumbar puncture rose up (in a somewhat equivalent way) the proportion of accurate diagnoses. The lumbar puncture practice was not associated with a higher rate of cerebral herniae.

The authors report five new cases of myoclonic encephalopathy caused by bismuth salts with a characteristic and constant clinical picture. The signs regressed when treatment was stopped.

A case of trichinosis involving the cental nervous system is presented. The neurological symptoms developed 20 days after ingestion of the larvae and 3 days after the onset of facial oedema. They consisted of behavioural disorders, tetraparesis, incontinence and oculomotor paralysis. All symptoms progressively regressed. Computed tomography showed transient low-density areas in the white matter. The main manifestations and the physiopathological mechanisms (transport of the parasite through the bloodstream, immuno-allergic reaction) of cerebral trichinosis are discussed.