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To air challenging issues related to patient and market access to new anticancer agents, the Biotherapy Development Association—an international group focused on developing targeted cancer therapies using biological agents—convened a meeting on 29 November 2007 in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting provided a forum for representatives of pharmaceutical companies and academia to interact with European regulatory and postregulatory agencies. The goal was to increase all parties understanding of their counterparts roles in the development, licensure, and appraisal of new agents for cancer treatment, events guided by an understanding that cancer patients should have rapid and equitable access to life-prolonging treatments. Among the outcomes of the meeting were a greater understanding of the barriers facing drug developers in an evolving postregulatory world, clarity about what regulatory and postregulatory bodies expect to see in dossiers of new anticancer agents as they contemplate licensure and reimbursement, and several sets of recommendations to optimize patients access to innovative, safe, effective, and fairly priced cancer treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Robotic distal pancreatectomy (DP) is an emerging attractive approach, but its role compared with laparoscopic or open surgery remains unclear. Benchmark values are novel and objective tools for such comparisons. The aim of this study was to identify benchmark cutoffs for many outcome parameters for DP with or without splenectomy beyond the learning curve., Methods: This study analyzed outcomes from international expert centers from patients undergoing robotic DP for malignant or benign lesions. After excluding the first 10 cases in each center to reduce the effect of the learning curve, consecutive patients were included from the start of robotic DP up to June 2020. Benchmark patients had no significant comorbidities. Benchmark cutoff values were derived from the 75th or the 25th percentile of the median values of all benchmark centers. Benchmark values were compared with a laparoscopic control group from 4 high-volume centers and published open DP landmark series., Results: Sixteen centers contributed 755 cases, whereof 345 benchmark patients (46%) were included the analysis. Benchmark cutoffs included: operation time ≤300 minutes, conversion rate ≤3%, clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula ≤32%, 3 months major complication rate ≤26.7%, and lymph node retrieval ≥9. The comprehensive complication index at 3 months was ≤8.7 without deterioration thereafter. Compared with robotic DP, laparoscopy had significantly higher conversion rates (5×) and overall complications, while open DP was associated with more blood loss and longer hospital stay., Conclusion: This first benchmark study demonstrates that robotic DP provides superior postoperative outcomes compared with laparoscopic and open DP. Robotic DP may be expected to become the approach of choice in minimally invasive DP., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

More than half of women in developed countries undergo surgery during their lifetime, putting them at risk of adhesion-related complications. Adhesion-related complications include small bowel obstruction, chronic (pelvic) pain, subfertility, and complications associated with adhesiolysis during reoperation. The aim of this study is to predict the risk for adhesion-related readmission and reoperation after gynecological surgery. A Scottish nationwide retrospective cohort study was conducted including all women undergoing a gynecological procedure as their initial abdominal or pelvic operation between 1 June 2009 and 30 June 2011, with a five-year follow-up. Prediction models for two- and five-year risk of adhesion-related readmission and reoperation were constructed and visualized using nomograms. To evaluate the reliability of the created prediction model, internal cross-validation was performed using bootstrap methods. During the study period, 18,452 women were operated on, and 2719 (14.7%) of them were readmitted for reasons possibly related to adhesions. A total of 2679 (14.5%) women underwent reoperation. Risk factors for adhesion-related readmission were younger age, malignancy as indication, intra-abdominal infection, previous radiotherapy, application of a mesh, and concomitant inflammatory bowel disease. Transvaginal surgery was associated with a lower risk of adhesion-related complications as compared to laparoscopic or open surgeries. The prediction model for both readmissions and reoperations had moderate predictive reliability (c-statistics 0.711 and 0.651). This study identified risk factors for adhesion-related morbidity. The constructed prediction models can guide the targeted use of adhesion prevention methods and preoperative patient information in decision-making.

Objective: Morel-Lavallée lesion is a well-known entity after a high-energy, shearing trauma. Another form of lesion in the subcutaneous tissue is fat necrosis, presenting as a palpable mass. The most common presentation of fat necrosis is oil cysts, which occur mainly in the breast. However, in the lower extremities fat necrosis appears as nodular cystic fat necrosis. We report here a case of a patient with multiple injuries after a low-velocity trauma, who developed fat necrosis., Results: Six months after the traumatic event the patient reported multiple subcutaneous lumps on the right knee. On ultrasonography, the probable diagnosis of post-traumatic fat necrosis with consequent development of nodular cystic fat necrosis was seen. The diagnosis was confirmed based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)., Discussion: Fat necrosis should be included in the differential diagnosis in cases of tissue injuries after a trauma. Fat necrosis can present months or years after the initial injury. It is a benign entity and is the result of an organized haemorrhage, swelling and oedema that progresses with fibrosis. There is no absolute need for surgical treatment., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (© Published by Medical Journals Sweden, on behalf of the Foundation for Rehabilitation Information.)

Background: Short- and long-term consequences after treatment for childhood fossa posterior tumors are extensively reported in the literature; however, papers highlighting physical function throughout rehabilitation and its correlation with Intelligence Quotient (IQ) are sparse. This study aims to describe the physical functioning and IQ of these survivors, their progression during rehabilitation, and the association with histopathological tumor classification. Additionally, the correlation between gross motor functioning and cognitive functioning was investigated., Methods: This retrospective single-center cohort study included 56 children (35 (62.5%) males and 21 (37.5%) females, with an average age of 6.51 years (SD 4.13)) who followed a multidisciplinary program at the Child Rehabilitation Centre, Ghent University Hospital in the period from 2005 to 2020. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed with the use of non-parametric tests and linear regression to determine the relationship between gross motor functioning and IQ., Results: This report shows impaired motor and intelligence performance in children with a fossa posterior tumor. Although multidisciplinary rehabilitation is beneficial, it is not able to counteract the further decline of several motor skills and intelligence during oncological treatment, more specifically in children with a medulloblastoma. A correlation between gross motor function and total IQ was found., Conclusion: Pediatric survivors of a fossa posterior tumor experience impaired physical and intellectual functions, with more decline during oncological treatment despite simultaneous multidisciplinary rehabilitation.

Preincubation of a drug transporter with its inhibitor in a cell-based assay may result in the apparent enhancement of the inhibitory potency. Currently, limited data are available on potentiation of transporter inhibition by preincubation (PTIP) for clinically relevant solute-carrier transporters other than OATP1B1 and OATP1B3. Therefore, PTIP was examined systematically using OATP1B1, OATP1B3, OAT1, OAT3, OCT1, OCT2, MATE1, and MATE2-K cell lines. IC 50 values of 30 inhibitors were determined with or without 3 hours of preincubation, and compounds with a PTIP ≥2.5× were further characterized by assessing the time course of transport inhibition potency and cellular concentration. For each compound, correlations were calculated between highest observed PTIP and physicochemical properties. PTIP was prevalent among organic cation transporters (OCTs) and organic anion-transporting polypeptides (OATPs) but not among organic anion transporters (OATs) or multidrug and toxin extrusion transporters (MATEs), and most instances of PTIP persisted after controlling for toxicity and nonspecific binding. Occasionally, preincubation in excess of 2 hours was required to attain full inhibitory potency. For four drugs examined, preincubation had the potential to change the in vitro drug-drug interaction risk prediction from "no risk" to "risk" on the basis of current regulatory criteria. Molecular weight and LogD 7.4 , as well as the ratio of passive cellular accumulation and cellular uptake rate correlated with PTIP; thus, low cellular permeation and a slow build-up of unbound intracellular inhibitor concentration may contribute to PTIP. Taken together, our data suggest that PTIP is partly determined by the physicochemical properties of the perpetrator drug, and preincubation may affect the in vitro predicted drug-drug interaction risk for OCTs as well as OATPs. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: During the development of a novel pharmaceutical drug, in vitro studies are conducted to assess the risk of potential adverse interactions between existing medications a patient may already be taking and the novel compound. The exact way these in vitro assays are performed may influence the outcome of risk assessment. Here we suggest that the interaction risk may be underestimated unless specific assay protocols are modified to include an additional incubation step that allows the test drug to accumulate inside the cells, and demonstrate that adding this step is particularly important for large and hydrophobic drug molecules., (Copyright © 2019 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.)

The decapod Crangon crangon is one of the most valuable European fisheries commodities. Despite its economic importance, little sequence data is available for this shrimp species. In this paper, we report the transcriptome sequencing for five different stages of C. crangon (early embryo, late embryo, larva, female adults and male adults) and the annotation and stage-specific expression analysis of nuclear receptors (NRs) and RNA interference (RNAi)-related genes. The NRs are transcription factors that play an essential role in growth, development, cell differentiation, molting/metamorphosis and reproduction, while the RNAi-related genes are very important for internal gene expression regulation and in antiviral defense. We discovered a NR in the female C. crangon which is either a very rapidly evolved homolog of HR10, or a novel NR altogether. This new NR could act as a biological marker for sex determination as it is not expressed in male adults. Most RNAi-related genes were present in C. crangon, proving that the requirements for successful RNAi is present in this decapod shrimp. RNAi-based applications in Crangon such as its use in functional genomics or as antiviral therapeutics could become very important in the near future., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this paper, the non-target effects of tebufenozide were evaluated on the estuarine crustacean, the opposum shrimp Neomysis integer (Leach, 1814). Tebufenozide is a synthetic non-steroidal ecdysone agonist insecticide and regarded as potential endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC). N. integer is the most used crustacean in ecotoxicological research in parallel to Daphnia sp. and has been proposed for the regulatory testing of potential EDCs in the US, Europe and Japan. Major results were: (i) cDNAs encoding the ecdysteroid receptor (EcR) and the retinoid-X-receptor (RXR), were cloned and sequenced, and subsequent molecular phylogenetic analysis (maximum likelihood and neighbor-joining) revealed that the amino acid sequence of the ligand binding domain (LBD) of N. integer EcR (NiEcR) clusters as an outgroup of the Crustacea, while NiRXR-LBD clusters in the Malacostracan clade (bootstrap percentage=75%). (ii) 3D-modeling of ligand binding to NiEcR-LBD demonstrated an incompatibility of the insecticide tebufenozide to fit into the NiEcR-ligand binding pocket. This was in great contrast to ponasterone A (PonA) that is the natural molting hormone in Crustacea and for which efficient docking was demonstrated. In addition, the heterodimerization of NiEcR-LBD with the common shrimp Crangon crangon (Linnaeus, 1758) RXR-LBD (CrcRXR-LBD) was also modeled in silico. (iii) With use of insect Hi5 cells, chimeric constructs of NiEcR-LBD and CrcRXR-LBD fused to either the yeast Gal4-DNA binding domain (DBD) or Gal4-activation domain (AD) were cloned into expression plasmids and co-transfected with a Gal4 reporter to quantify the protein-protein interactions of NiEcR-LBD with CrcRXR-LBD. Investigation of the ligand effect of PonA and tebufenozide revealed that only the presence of PonA could induce dimerization of this heterologous receptor complex. (iv) Finally, in an in vivo toxicity assay, N. integer juveniles were exposed to tebufenozide at a concentration of 100 μg/L, and no effects against the molting process and nymphal development were scored. In conclusion, the in vitro cell reporter assay, based on NiEcR-LBD/CrcRXR-LBD heterodimerization in Hi5 cells and validated with the natural ecdysteroid hormone PonA, represents a useful tool for the screening of putative EDCs. As a test example for non-steroidal ecdysone agonist insecticides, tebufenozide had no negative effects on NiEcR/RXR receptor dimerization in vitro, nor on the molting process and nymphal development of N. integer at the tested concentration (100 μg/L) in vivo., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The authors evaluated the ability of 2 pulse contour cardiac output (CO) techniques to track CO changes during passive leg raising (PLR) to assess fluid loading responsiveness., Design: A prospective study., Setting: An intensive care unit in a university hospital., Participants: Twenty mechanically ventilated postoperative cardiac surgery patients., Interventions: Thirty-degree PLR., Measurements and Main Results: The authors estimated CO by 3 techniques: thermodilution (COtd), arterial pulse power (Coli; LiDCO, London, UK), and pulse contour method (Com; FMS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) based on uncalibrated Modelflow. The authors measured heart rate (HR), central venous pressure, arterial pulse pressure (PP), systolic pressure (SP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP). Stroke volume (SV), SP, PP, and SV variation (PPV and SVV, respectively) were calculated over 5 breaths. SVV was measured by both LiDCO (SVVli) and Modelflow (SVVm) devices. PLR-induced changes in COtd correlated with COli (p < 0.001) and COm (p < 0.001). Preload dependence was predicted with an area under the ROC curve of 0.968 for ΔCOm, 0.841 for ΔCOli, 0.825 for SVVm, 0.873 for SVVli, 0.808 for PPV, 0.778 for ΔSP, 0.714 for ΔPP, and 0.873 for ΔMAP., Conclusions: Changes in COm, COli, SVV, and PPV track COtd changes during PLR with a high degree of accuracy in sedated, ventilated, postoperative cardiac surgery patients. Changes in pulse contour CO after PLR can be used to predict fluid loading responsiveness., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To assess the advantages of a surgeon-controlled robotic endoscope holder in gynecologic minimally invasive solo-surgery as compared with conventional assistance with a second surgeon., Methods: One hundred gynecologic laparoscopies were consecutively allocated to surgery with either a robot as the surgical assistant or a conventional assistant surgeon. Total operation time, image stability, and frequency of corrective maneuvers of the camera, in addition to the surgeon's satisfaction regarding the ergonomics of the intervention, were recorded. All interventions were performed by the same surgeon. All laparoscopic surgery was classified as either easy or advanced surgery., Results: The image stability score was significantly higher (10 vs 7; P<0.001) and fewer corrective maneuvers of the robotic endoscope were necessary (1 vs 5; P<0.001) with the robotic laparoscope holder; in addition, the surgeon recorded a significantly higher satisfaction score for the ergonomics of the semi-active robot (10 vs 7; P<0.001)., Conclusion: The robot does not prolong total operation time and increases the surgeon's comfort by improving image stability and laparoscope handling. It could provide major benefit, especially in complex gynecologic laparoscopic surgery., (Copyright © 2010 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objective: We studied whether changes in less invasive, noncalibrated pulse-contour cardiac output (by modified ModelFlow, COmf) and derived stroke volume variations (SVV), as well as systolic and pulse pressure variations, predict changes in bolus thermodilution cardiac output (COtd), evoked by continuous and cyclic increases in intrathoracic pressure by increases in positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and tidal volume (Vt), respectively., Methods: Prospective study on 17 critically ill postcardiac surgery patients on full mechanical ventilatory support, in the intensive care unit., Results: In contrast to systolic pressure variation and pulse pressure variation, SVV increased from (mean +/- SD) 6.2 +/- 4.4 to 8.1 +/- 5.6 at PEEP 10 cmH2O (P = 0.064) and to 7.8 +/- 3.5% at PEEP 15 cmH2O (P = 0.031), concomitantly with a 12 +/- 7 and 11 +/- 8% decrease in COmf and COtd (P < 0.001), respectively. For pooled data, changes in COmf correlated with those in COtd (r = 0.55, P = 0.002), but changes in SVV did not. Variables did not change when Vt was increased up to 50%., Conclusion: A fall in COmf is more sensitive than a rise in SVV, which is more sensitive than systolic pressure variation and pulse pressure variation, in tracking a fall in COtd during continuous (and not cyclic) increases in intrathoracic pressure, in mechanically ventilated patients after cardiac surgery. This suggests a reduction in biventricular preload as the main factor in decreasing cardiac output and increasing SVV with PEEP.

An increased protein content and less digestible protein sources in the diet can induce bad faecal odour. The present study investigated the effect of adding prebiotics to dog diets enriched with animal-derived protein sources on apparent digestibilities and faecal ammonia concentration. In three subsequent periods eight healthy beagle dogs were fed a commercial dog diet that was gradually supplemented by up to 50 % with meat and bone meal (MBM), greaves meal (GM) or poultry meal (PM) respectively. Afterwards, 3 % fructo-oligosaccharides or 3 % isomalto-oligosaccharides were substituted for 3 % of the total diet. Supplementation with animal-derived protein sources did not decrease the apparent N digestibility significantly but oligosaccharides did. On the other hand the bacterial N content (% DM) in the faeces was highest in the oligosaccharide groups followed by the protein-supplemented groups and lowest in the control groups. When the apparent N digestibility was corrected for bacterial N no significant differences were noted anymore except for the GM group where the corrected N digestibility was still lower after oligosaccharide supplementation. The amount of faecal ammonia was significantly increased by supplementing with protein or oligosaccharides in the MBM and GM groups but not in the PM group. When apparent N digestibility is interpreted, a correction for bacterial N should be taken into account, especially when prebiotics are added to the diet. Oligosaccharides did not reduce the faecal ammonia concentrations as expected.

In order to evaluate the effect of insoluble and soluble fibre on the levels of post-prandial glycaemia, six healthy dogs were fed three different diets: a low-fibre control diet, a high-fibre diet (HF; mainly insoluble fibre) and the control diet with 10% iso-malto-oligosaccharides (IMO) added. The diets were fed for 2 days before the blood collections were started on the third day. Serial blood samples were taken 20, 60, 90, 150, 180, 240 and 360 min after feeding and one sample was taken just before the feeding after a fasting period of at least 20 h. There were no problems concerning the faecal consistency. The post-prandial glycaemia curve was significantly lower in the HF and IMO group in comparison with the control group. At 20 and 60 min the glucose concentration was significantly lower in the HF and IMO groups. At 90 and 150 min only the IMO group had a significantly lower glucose concentration. At 360 min there was a trend for a lower glucose concentration in the IMO group. The results show that both the HF and the IMO diets had a beneficial effect on post-prandial hyperglycaemia. Substitution of IMO may have the same or a slightly better effect, but this has to be confirmed in diabetic dogs and the effect may depend on the composition of the basal diet.

An in vitro method was used to determine the availability of Zn from infant foods containing increasing amounts of phytate, and to quantify the effect of the phytate:Zn molar ratio on the availability. During the in vitro assay, digestive conditions of infants, younger and older than 4 months of age, were carefully simulated since the solubility of phytate-Zn complexes during digestion is pH dependent. Availability was measured with a continuous flow dialysis in vitro procedure with previous intralumen digestive stage. Zn concentrations were determined with flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Phytic acid content was measured with HPLC. Adding phytate to infant formula lowered Zn availability to 2.84 (sd 0.17) % when the phytate:Zn molar ratio increased to 2.2 as compared with cows' milk-based formula (6.65 (sd 0.55) %). Availability from vegetables (23.83 (sd 2.17) %) significantly decreased at a ratio > 7.9 (15.12 (sd 1.63) %). Zn availability from soyabean-based formula (2.26 (sd 0.36) %) was lower compared with cows' milk-based formula (6.65 (sd 0.55) %). Availability between soyabean- and cows' milk-based formula was similar when a phytate:Zn ratio of 2.2 (2.84 (sd 0.17) %) was obtained in the cows' milk formula. The negative effect of phytic acid on Zn availability was dependent on the type of the food and the phytate content, and should be considered when using soyabean-based formulas during early infancy.

The effects on faecal characteristics of different concentrations of oligofructose (0, 3, 6 and 9%) were investigated. The 6 and 9% supplemented groups differed significantly compared with the control group in almost all faecal characteristics. There were no significant differences regarding the macroscopical and chemical aspects of the faeces between the control and the 3% supplemented group. There was a trend for a lower pH of the faeces in the 3% supplemented group, suggesting a substantial effect on the faecal composition. In a second experiment, the effects of oligofructose (3%) and inulin (3 and 6%) on digestibility parameters were tested. In the supplemented groups the apparent protein digestibility was lower but this was due to a higher bacterial nitrogen content of the faeces. There were no significant differences between 3% inulin and oligofructose, although oligofructose seemed to be more easily fermentable, because of a trend to a higher concentration of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) in the faeces of the oligofructose group.

Four groups (CS,CR,PS,PR) of nine trained male racing pigeons were deprived of feed for 1 d and then subjected to a respiration chamber test in order to study the effect of oral 1-carnitine supplementation on the energy metabolism during flight. One week before, groups CS and CR were orally supplemented with 90 mg of 1-carnitine daily, whereas PS and PR were given a placebo. Groups CS and PS underwent flight simulation by electrostimulation of the breast muscles. Flight simulation increased heat production, kept respiratory quotient from decreasing, decreased thyroxine levels, and increased weight loss. L-Carnitine decreased the rise in heat production during electrostimulation but did not influence respiratory quotient, weight loss, or thyroid hormones. L-Carnitine supplementation in pigeons improves fatty acid combustion efficiency during heavy exercise.

During two consecutive lactations using a switch-back design, 16 sows received a corn, cassava, barley, and soybean meal diet supplemented with either 8.5 or 1 g/kg of NaCl (.4% Na or .1% Na, respectively). The average daily water consumption during the 4-wk lactation period was greater (P < .01) for the sows fed the high-salt diet than for those fed the low-salt diet (13.9 vs 12.4 L, respectively). Urine production accounted for 27% of the water intake during lactation. This resulted in a difference during the entire lactation period of 42.2 L in water consumption (P = .07) and 11.4 L in urine production (P = .07). The Na and Cl concentrations of the urine for sows fed the high-salt diet were higher than for sows fed the low-salt diet (P < .05), but the K, Mg, P, and Ca concentrations were not influenced. The milk composition, measured at d 1, 13, and 27 of lactation, was relatively independent of the dietary salt level, except for the Cl concentration at d 1 after farrowing, which was higher (P < .05) for sows fed the high-salt diet. The moisture and ash content of the milk increased with the length of the lactation, irrespective of the diet. The increased ash content on d 13 and 27 of lactation was accounted for by the increased concentrations of P and Ca. There was no effect of dietary salt level on weight change of the sow or on the growth performance of the pigs. The interval from weaning to estrus (n = 13, t = 2.48, P = .029) was shorter for sows fed the high-salt diet than for sows fed the low-salt diet (6.2 +/- 1.0 and 12.6 +/- 3.1 d, respectively). More sows were unsuccessfully mated after receiving the low-salt diet during lactation. These results indicate that a low-salt diet for lactating sows results in lower water consumption, lower urine production, and lower Na and Cl concentrations in the urine. Milk composition, weight change of the sow, and growth performance of the pigs were not altered, but reproductive failures afterward may point to a salt deficiency during lactation.

A model of the elasticity of the human lung has been developed to evaluate the relative importance of the characteristics of the lung parenchyma, of thorax configuration, and of gravity on the vertical gradients of pleural pressure and regional volumes, and on the linear displacements of lung tissue, of various lung volumes. The predictions of the model are compared with available experimental data. It is suggested that the bulk elasticity modulus of the human lung is high with respect to that of canine lungs, that the shearing forces are low ("effective" Poison's ratio of about 0.4-0.45), and that the variations of regional pleural pressures and volumes during deflation are determined primarily by the interaction between lung weight and changes in thorax configuration.

A primary ovarian carcinoid tumour of insular strumal type in a 78-yr-old patient is reported. Strumal carcinoid of the ovary is a rare tumor of germ cell origin characterized by an intimate mixture of thyroid tissue and carcinoid. Correct diagnosis depends on a pathologic examination with the use of special stains. Because of its benign character, the treatment is primarily a surgical one and consists of a simple oophorectomy or salpingo-oophorectomy.

Experiments were carried out to determine the effect of previous irradiation on microvascular arterial anastomoses. The study focused on regeneration of endothelial cells and thrombus formation. Careful examination with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a difference between irradiated animals and a control group. In the irradiated group one can notice a decreased regeneration, a greater amount of fibrin and platelets, and a higher incidence of microthrombi.

In multiple pregnancies with one abnormal fetus the active options are termination of pregnancy or selective fetocide. The different methods of selective fetocide are discussed and the intracardiac instillation of potassium chloride is described in a case report. Coagulation disturbances were not observed during follow-up.

In experiments with young fattening boars, implanted at 50 kg with either oestradiol 17 beta (34 mg) (O group) or oestradiol 17 beta + testosterone (20 + 200 mg) (TO group) and fed the same amount of a protein rich diet, there was not any favourable effect on growth rate, feed conversion efficiency, carcass composition and protein retention, as calculated by carcass analysis of slaughter weight pigs and 50 kg live weight pigs. There were no differences in serum steroid concentrations between control and implanted boars, but there were differences in macroscopic and histological aspects of the gonads, which were significant between control and TO groups. These results were confirmed by the suppression in both treated groups of the androstenone concentration in backfat samples, steroid which is responsible for the sexual odour of the meat of boars.

Surgical treatment of follicle and luteal cysts by laparoscopic fenestration is an accepted procedure. After cyst aspiration, a "window" is cut in its wall. Thus, a tissue sample can be obtained for cytological and histopathological examination. Laparoscopic fenestration was performed in 104 patients. During a mean follow-up period of 20 months (N = 91) a recurrence rate of 8% was observed by vaginal examination and abdominal sonography. In the presence of pelvic adhesions, functional cysts tend to recur. Luteal cysts have a higher recurrence rate than follicle cysts.