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Although rarely published, operative injuries to thoracic duct in neck are by no means exceptional, and can occur during all types of surgery to lower cervical and supraclavicular regions. A case is reported and used as a basis for an analysis of diagnostic means and therapeutic possibilities of injuries detected during operation or those developing manifestations at a later stage. In the case reported, long-term medical treatment resulted in arrest of lymphorrhea within 37 days.

Two benign liver tumours are described in women who had taken oral contraceptives. These were cases of focal nodular hyperplasia and a liver cell adenoma. These lesions are benign, and were discovered on routine examination as they were not responsible for any clinical sign, as is usual except in cases of peritoneal rupture, where the patient presents with a dramatic hemoperitoneum. Oral contraceptive were found to be associated as in many recent cases. Oestro-progestins were found to be responsible for an increase in hepatic metabolism, which gave rise to biochemical, histological and sometimes clinical changes in the form of jaundice or a tumour. There is no proof of this mechanism but the supervision of women on contraceptives should include a search for a hepatic tumour for which surgical treatment is necessary to prevent complications.

The authors report 8 cases of sarcoma of the uterus and discuss the special characteristics of this type of lesion. It seems that the frequency of sarcoma of the uterus is more importnat than is usually thought : one case out of 100 fibromas in the authors' series. The pre-operative diagnosis is difficult, in particular the radiological signs described by Musset were only found in 2 cases out of 8. On the other hand, the pre-operative diagnosis was made in 5 cases out of 8. The histological diagnosis is difficult and may only be made later. The only treatment is surgical, according to most authors. Chemotherapy may be of interest in the future. A uterine sarcoma should certainly be considered more often, especially in cases of fibroma which undergo rapid change.