LettersBilateral corneal contusion and angle recession caused by an airbag EDrrOR,-Airbags have been installed as standard equipment on most new cars in order to enhance automobile safety. Several reports of airbag associated injuries have recently appeared. 1-7We describe herein a case of severe ocular trauma caused by an airbag to a front seat passenger.

Background: The efficacy of octreotide, the synthetic analogue of the hormone somatostatin, for the treatment of acute pancreatitis is controversial. Octreotide has been commonly administered in subcutaneous bolus injections; however, continuous intravenous infusion may be advantageous for acute conditions. Methods: Acute experimental pancreatitis was induced in rats by intraparenchymal injections of 1 ml 10% sodium taurocholate, and octreotide (1 µg/kg/h, dissolved in physiological solution, intravenously was started 4 h later and continuously infused for 48 h. Physiological solution infusions, in identical volumes, were used in the controls. The following parameters were examined: mortality; macroscopic and histological damage; hematocrit; plasma pH; acid-base balance; serum glucose; calcium, and amylase. Results: Octreotide treatment had a striking effect on mortality: 8.3 versus 91.6% in the treatment and control groups, respectively (p < 0.001). Octreotide also ameliorated pancreatic edema and intestinal dilatation, and had significant beneficial effects on histopathological damage and the biochemical alterations which are associated with acute pancreatitis. Conclusions: Continuous intravenous octreotide infusion is a potentially efficacious therapeutic method for acute pancreatitis.

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The clinical presentation, diagnosis, mode of treatment and surgical pathology of acute diverticulitis of the caecum and right colon is reviewed in 22 patients. The clinical signs, biochemical and blood analysis in patients with caecal diverticulitis were indistinguishable from those of a control group with acute appendicitis. However, the duration of symptoms and average age of the former were significantly longer and higher than in the latter group. A definite intra-operative diagnosis was achieved in 11 patients (50%), who subsequently underwent either a limited resection or appendectomy only, while in the other patients without an intra-operative diagnosis right hemicolectomy was performed. The operative mortality rate was 9.1 %. Histological examination of the operative specimens revealed a solitary diverticulum in 8 patients, multiple diverticulae in 6 patients and caecal ulcers in 6 patients. All the diverticulae belonged to the false type.

Prophylactic oophorectomy, as an additional treatment for stage II breast cancer, is controversial. In a retrospective study, a group of 37 premenopausal women with stage II infiltrating duct carcinoma and one to three positive axillary lymph node involvement after modified radical mastectomy and bilateral oophorectomy were compared to a matched group of 34 women treated by modified radical mastectomy only. Prophylactic oophorectomy prolonged the disease free interval significantly as compared to the control group. However, it did not prolong survival. This raises the question whether the prolongation of survival achieved by late oophorectomy in women with advanced breast cancer is preferable to an improvement in quality of life resulting from longer disease free intervals.