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Laryngeal chondrosarcoma is a rare laryngeal tumor that most frequently originates from the cricoid cartilage. The majority of lesions are low grade and the distinction from benign chondromas must be made. We present a case of a laryngeal chondrosarcoma arising from the cricoid cartilage in a 75-year-old Arab man who presented with hoarseness, dysphonia, and dyspnea. Endoscopic and radiological examinations showed a mass of the wall of his larynx with displaced structures, airway obstruction, and destruction of the cartilage. The patient underwent total laryngectomy. Histological examination supported the diagnosis of low-grade chondrosarcoma. Five months later, the radiological and clinical findings showed no evidence of recurrence or metastases. Laryngeal chondrosarcomas remain a rare disease of unknown etiology, with slow and insidious symptoms. The treatment is surgical, given the importance of preserving the larynx to patients’ quality of life. The prognosis is favorable and metastases rarely occur.

International audience; Sepsis causes severe dysregulation of organ functions, via the development of oxidative stress and inflammation. These pathophysiological mechanisms are mimicked in mice injected with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Here, protective properties of argan oil against LPS-induced oxidative stress and inflammation are explored in the murine model. Mice received standard chow, supplemented with argan oil (AO) or olive oil (OO) for 25 days, before septic shock was provoked with a single intraperitoneal injection of LPS, 16 hours prior to animal sacrifice. In addition to a rise in oxidative stress and inflammatory markers, injected LPS also caused hepatotoxicity, accompanied by hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia and hyperuremia. These LPS-associated toxic effects were blunted by AO pretreatment, as corroborated by normal plasma parameters and cell stress markers (glutathione: GSH) and antioxidant enzymology (catalase, CAT; superoxide dismutase, SOD and glutathione peroxidase, GPx). Hematoxylin–eosin staining revealed that AO can protect against acute liver injury, maintaining a normal status, which is pointed out by absent or reduced LPS-induced hepatic damage markers (i.e., alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST)). Our work also indicated that AO displayed anti-inflammatory activity, due to down-regulations of genes encoding pro-inflammatory cytokines Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) and in up-regulations of the expression of anti-inflammatory genes encoding Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and Interleukin-10 (IL-10). OO provided animals with similar, though less extensive, protective changes. Collectively our work adds compelling evidence to the protective mechanisms of AO against LPS-induced liver injury and hence therapeutic potentialities, in regard to the management of human sepsis. Activations of IL-4/Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors (IL-4/PPARs) signaling and, under LPS, an anti-inflammatory IL-10/Liver X Receptor (IL-10/LXR) route, obviously indicated the high potency and plasticity of the anti-inflammatory properties of argan oil.

Secondary lesions to the sternum are uncommon and occur more commonly in patients with lung and breast cancer. Only a few cases of sternal metastasis arising from a follicullar thyroid carcinoma have been reported in the literature. The management of this kind of metastasis remains controversial. We describe a case of a sternal mass treated by radical surgery and Iodine radiation, which ultimately proved to be a solitary metastasis from a follicular carcinoma of the thyroid, appearing 20 years after subtotal thyroidectomy. A review of the literature was also performed to evaluate the characteristics of reported cases of sternal thyroid cancer metastases treated with surgical resection. According to the results we recommend surgical resection of the metastasis, not only as a curative or palliative measure but also to maximize the effect of subsequent radioiodine treatment.

Nous rapportons chez une patiente de 17 ans un cas rare d’hypoplasie sévère avec transformation gélatineuse de la moelle osseuse dont l’étiologie spécifique reste mystérieuse malgré un bilan diagnostique et étiologique assez détaillé. La transformation gélatineuse (encore appelée atrophie séreuse, ou moelle de déprivation) est caractérisée par l’association d’une hypoplasie médullaire et d’une infiltration interstitielle par une substance gélatineuse amorphe formée de mucopolysaccharides acides. Elle s’accompagne d’anomalies sanguines périphériques qui sont variables, souvent modérées et non corrélées à la gravité de l’atteinte centrale. Sa pathogénie, encore mal connue, est très certainement liée à la dénutrition chronique et les pathologies associées à une cachexie.

Nous rapportons chez une patiente de 17 ans un cas rare d’hypoplasie sévère avec transformation gélatineuse de la moelle osseuse dont l’étiologie spécifique reste mystérieuse malgré un bilan diagnostique et étiologique assez détaillé. La transformation gélatineuse (encore appelée atrophie séreuse, ou moelle de déprivation) est caractérisée par l’association d’une hypoplasie médullaire et d’une infiltration interstitielle par une substance gélatineuse amorphe formée de mucopolysaccharides acides. Elle s’accompagne d’anomalies sanguines périphériques qui sont variables, souvent modérées et non corrélées à la gravité de l’atteinte centrale. Sa pathogénie, encore mal connue, est très certainement liée à la dénutrition chronique et les pathologies associées à une cachexie.