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Discovery on a protein electrophoregram of a bisalbuminemia can orientate according to its migration fast or slow to an hereditary mutation of an amino acid, or an acquired form by excess of beta lactamines due to renal insufficiency or by the rupture of a pancreatic pseudocyst in the peritoneum. This is this late mechanism that we report in this case of bisalbuminemia related to an opened pancreatic pseudocyst secondary to an adenoma of the parathyroid gland.

We report two cases of bone and joint amyloidosis involvement related to plasma cell dyscrasia. The radiographic appearances mimic numerous benign or malignant diseases. MR imaging shows a diffuse low signal in T1 and an heterogeneous low or mild low signal in T2 weighted spin-echo sequence.

We report two cases of polychondritis associated with mesenteric panniculitis. Case 1. In February 1989, a woman born in 1949 presented with 40 degrees C fever accompanied by pain in the abdomen and pelvis. Eight days later, nodular skin lesions appeared on her lower limbs. The abdomen was swollen with gas and undepressible. An abdominal CT scan revealed partitioned peritoneal collections, and a guided needle aspiration produced a chylous fluid. Direct and indirect bacteriological examinations gave negative results. Histology showed intense inflammatory reaction with giant cells and lipophages, thereby confirming the presence of mesenteric panniculitis. Six months later, the development of chondritic lesions on the nose and the helix of the ear clinched the diagnosis of polychondritis. The patient was put on corticosteroid therapy for a few months, and in January this year (1993) she is durably asymptomatic. Case 2. In October 1977, a woman born in 1937 presented with polychondritis with prolonged fever, inflammatory syndrome and chondritic lesions of the nose, larynx and helix of the ear. In December 1978, she developed signs of abdominal obstruction. Laparotomy revealed infiltration by multiple nodular formations of the entire posterior line of attachment of the mesentery. Biopsies withdrew a puriform fluid. Histology showed a partly necrotic adipose tissue with giant cells and lipophages. High-dose corticosteroid therapy partially controlled the chondritic and abdominal manifestations. The occurrence of abdominal pain in patients with polychondritis may result from several disorders, such as iatrogenic complications, digestive tract vasculitis or ulcerative colitis, but also associated mesenteric panniculitis.

The finding of focal glomerulonephritis in a patient with Behcet's syndrome led us to perform systematic renal biopsies in ten other patients with the disease. None of the patients had symptoms of renal disease. Proteinuria was found in five, two of whom had associated leukocyturia. By light microscopy mesangial and extramembranous glomerular deposits were observed in eight patients. Arterioles in ten patients showed subendothelial and medial hyaline deposits. A granular pattern of fluorescent staining identified the presence of the third component of complement in these deposits. Circulating immune deposits were sought and found in six out of seven patients. The finding of circulating immune complexes and deposition of complement in glomerular and arteriolar tissues supports an immune complex mediated nephropathy and is consistent with the hypothesis of an immunological pathogenesis in Behcet's syndrome.