No abstract

Noma is an uncommon gangrenous process usually affecting malnourished children. A full-term neonate with orofacial noma, bilateral choanal atresia, and transient neutropenia with B cell deficiency is reported. This unusual appearance of noma in a well-nourished newborn might be related to the combination of choanal atresia and transient immune deficiency.

A case of subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn is described. Severe perinatal asphyxia preceded the appearance of the skin lesions. Premature rupture of membranes and the presence of foul-smelling meconium raised the possibility of infection by anaerobes as an additional etiologic factor. The main hypotheses concerning the cause and pathogenesis of this condition are reviewed. The alarming clinical picture that stands in sharp contrast to the benign prognosis is stressed.

Two patients receiving ovulation-inducing drugs were found to have ovarian carcinoma. Since patients receiving such medication are prone to develop enlarged ovaries with or without the fully developed hyperstimulation syndrome, the diagnosis of ovarian tumors in such patients may be delayed or missed. It is therefore being suggested that an ovarian enlargement persisting for more than 4 weeks, or the finding of ovarian solid masses by sonography in patients receiving ovulation-inducing drugs, should lead to a thorough work-up for neoplasia, sometimes including even laparotomy.

This is a report of a 32-year-old woman who presented with a hidradenoma papilliferum of the external auditory canal. The lesion bears a marked histologic resemblance to vulvar hidradenoma papilliferum and to intraductal papillioma of the breast and, as in the latter neoplasm it may malignancy. However, these are benign tumours and warrant only local resection. Clinical symptoms related to obstructure of the external ear and some hearing loss.This report emphasizes again the variety of neoplasms which occur under the generic name of ceruminoma. It is recommended that each of these tumours be classified according to its characteristic histologic features and that the term ceruminoma, as used at present, be abandoned.Adenomas of the ceruminous glands located in the external auditory canal are rare tumours (Batsakis et al., 1967; Cankar and Crowley, 1964; Pluec, 1977). About forty cases have so far been reported in the literature (Dehner and Chen, 1980). The histological classification of these benign ceruminous tumours is similar to that used for sweat gland tumours in other locations (Neldner, 1968; Pahor and O'Hara, 1975; Wetli et al., 1978).The most common type demonstrates features of glandular or tubular adenoma with epithelial structures which are similar to those of normal apocrine glands (Althaus and Ross, 1970; Anagnostou et al., 1974; Leitner, 1952; Camkar and Crowley, 1964). The second type of benign ceruminoma is the pleomorphic adenoma (Mark and Rothberg, 1951; Smith and Duarte, 1962; Pahor and O'Hara, 1975). Its histogenesis from ceruminous or ectopic salivary glands is still debated.The purpose of this paper is to report still another type of benign ceruminoma, namely the hidradenoma papilliferum which so far has only been mentioned as a theoretical possibility (Dehner and Chen, 1980).