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The retrospective study of 100 peritoneoscopies in cases of hematocarcomas reveals an hepatic involvement in 23% of the patients. The clinical status, the diffusion of the lymph nodes involvement, the radio-isotope scanning and the liver enzymes are not reliable and cannot predict the liver involvement. The peritoneoscopy which allows several and guided biopsies is better than blind transcutaneous liver biopsy.

A group of 364 children treated for acute rheumatic fever between 1955 and 1961 was compared with a similar group of 364 cases matched for age between 1965 and 1972, treated in the same fashion. In the second group an increase was found in the percentage of first attacks compared with relapses, indicating an improvement from prophylaxis. Cardiac involvement on admission, in first attacks, is equally common in both groups but more severe in the first group: in relapses, the severity of cardiac involvement increases with the number of previous attacks. The course of the carditis with corticosteroid treatment is the same in both groups. The reduced severity of the cardiac involvement in first attacks in the recent group suggests a role played by earlier diagnosis, antibiotic therapy previous to hospitalization, or variations in the epidemic nature of the disease.

The results of liver biopsy in 100 patients with tuberculosis are reported. In 8 patients, biopsy only occurred secondarily, during liver disease which appeared during antituberculous treatment. In five cases, the association of rifamycin and isoniazid was probably responsible and the mild histological signs noted suggested a favourable course after stopping one of the drugs or simply reducing the dose. The 3 other patients had virus hepatitis and biopsy was of prognostic interest by revealing the onset of post-hepatic cirrhosis. In 92 cases, liver biopsy was carried out before treatment. In 34 cases the liver was normal, in 38 patients there were hisotlogical changes which did not suggest tuberculosis but, probably, alcoholism. These were : steatosis, in 21 cases, cirrhosis in 8 cases, a mixture of steatosis and cirrhosis in 4 cases, and acute alcoholic hepatitis in 5 cases. Finally, in 20 cases, biopsy revealed an appearance of granulomatous hepatitis. Although this lesion is significant in the development of the disease, it is not characteristic of tuberculosis unless there is caseous necrosis, as in 2 cases, and unless culture of the biopsy material is positive, as in one case out of 9, i.e. the diagnostic interest of liver biopsy is not very great compared with prognostic interest. By determining the anatomical condition of the liver, often not obvious when simple liver function tests are carried out, it permits one to forsee to some extent the tolerance of the liver to antituberculous treatment, especially in alcoholics.

Massive ascites is are complication, but not exceptional, in pancreatitis. In a series of ten personal cases and a review of one hundred cases in the world literature, the authors attempt to define the main pathological and clinical characteristics of this disease and the best treatment. Ascites may follow abdominal trauma, involving the pancreas, sometimes it occurs during known chronic pancreatitis, often it is the first sign of pancreatic disease, whether acute or chronic. High levels of pancreatic enzymes in the ascitic fluid are the main factor in diagnosis of pancreatic ascites. The mechanism of formation of the ascites is loss of pancreatic fluid into the peritoneal cavity owing to a breach in the pancreas, the presence of enzyme-rich fluid, causing secondarily "chemical" peritonitis. Paracentesis abdominis or drainage of the fluid during exploratory laparotomy, permits one to obtain in certain cases, a cure of the ascites, but surgical drainage by an anastomosis between the pancreatic cyst and the digestive tract (pancreatico-digestive anastomosis), has the advantage of ensuring treatment of the ascites and of the responsible pancreatic disease.