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Biomedical subjects

A Balcells

Publications and source records attributed to A Balcells.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

[Urinary tract infection in postmenopausal diabetic women. Clinical survey of hospital and nonhospital populations (author's transl)].

The incidence and clinical course of urinary tract infections in postmenopausal diabetic patients in comparison to non-diabetic women have been evaluated. All cases with former history of urinary instrumentation or underlying conditions favoring urinary infections were rejected. Urinary tract infection was present in 14.9 percent of postmenopausal diabetics versus 10.5 percent in the non-diabetics. The incidence of urinary tract infection in premenopausal women was 12.5 percent. Urinary pathogenes showed similar incidence rate in both groups: E. coli (41 versus 57 percent), P. mirabilis (20 versus 28 percent) and Klebsiella (11 versus 20 percent). Diabetic women showed a higher rate of sepsis and infection recurrence than non-diabetic (10.7 and 17.8 percent versus 2.6 and 2.6 percent, respectively). Severe impairment of renal function (plasma creatinine clearance > 2 mg/100 ml) was registered in 12.5 percent of postmenopausal patients with diabetes mellitus, but none of the non-diabetics suffered renal damage (p < 0.01).

Aged↗
PubMed1980

[Value of the measurement of gases in the diagnosis of pleural effusion (author's transl)].

Determination of pH and measurement of pCO2 and pO2 have been systematically included in the study of 183 patients with pleural effusion. According to selective etiologic criteria the effusions were divided into four categories: those of cardiac origin (42), non-specific infectious (14), tuberculous (22) and neoplastic (20). A pH inferior to 6.30 seemed to be characteristic of non-tuberculous pleural effusion, and in these circumstances an associated pCO2 greater than 135 mm Hg and pO2 less than 21 mm Hg were noticed. Results in tuberculous and neoplastic cases were similar, pO2 being the only differential datum (pO2 less than 49 mm Hg and pO2 greater than 52 mm Hg, respectively). Overall results are compared to those obtained in the subgroup of pleural effusions of cardiac origin. Determination of pH, pO2 and pCO2 in pleural effusions may help to identified the etiology of this condition, specially when associated to analysis of other parameters of the aspirated fluid.

Carbon Dioxide↗
PubMed1980

[Congenital hepatorenal polycystic disease with unusual long survival (author's transl)].

The authors report a case of hepatorenal polycystic disease discovered in the course of a routine physical examination. The patient was asymptomatic and the progression of the disease was extremely low. The existence of the disorder, however, was confirmed in the autopsy. Although hepatorenal polycystic disease is a relatively common clinical finding, the rareness of this condition in patients of advanced age and its occasionally asymptomatic form are pointed out. Clinical and prognostic characteristics of the two types of the disease (infantile and adult) are mentioned too. Physical examination and pyelography are the most import exploratory methods; other procedures such as echography, scanning and peritoneoscopy are complementary techniques. Lastly, the need to establish an early diagnosis in order to avoid unappropiated surgical maneuvers is stressed.

Aged↗
PubMed1980

[Tuberculous pleural effusion and pleural effusion secondary to non-specific bacterial infection: biochemical differential diagnosis (author's transl)].

The authors study 14 different analytical parameters in the pleural fluid in order to recognize differential biological criteria, helping to establish an etiologic diagnosis in patients with suggestive clinical symptoms and biological data of an infectious process. In a group of 38 patients with bacterial exudative pleural effusion (22 of tuberculous origin and 16 secondary to non-specific bacterial infection), the following parameters were analyzed: total proteins, acid glucoprotein, X1, antytripsin, CDH, acid phosphatase, amylase, cholinest, copper, iron, pCO2, pO2 pH, glucose, and cholesterol. The results of amylase, copper, pCO2, pO2 and pH determinations in the pleural fluid show statistical significant differences between the tuberculous cases and the patients with non-specific infections. Lastly, the authors mention the minimal biological criteria necessary to confirm the tuberculous or non-specific bacterial etiology of a pleural fluid, stressing the value of the levels of cholinesterase, copper, pO2 and pH as differential data.

Copper↗
PubMed1979

[Macrocytosis in chronic alcoholism (author's transl)].

The present study reported a group of 168 chronically alcoholic patients with a daily ingestion superior to 80 grams. Twenty of these patients (10 percent) did not have liver disease, and 148 (68.5 percent) had different forms of liver disease classified by histopathologic examination. Considering a 97 fi MCV as macrocytosis, we have found in the group of alcoholics without hepatopathy a 50 percent rate of macrocythemia with a mean value of 97.9 fl. In the group of chronic alcoholics with liver disease there was a 64.2 percent macrocytosis with a mean value of 100 fl. We have also studied 43 (21.5 percent) patients with cryptogenetic cirrhosis with a 32.6 percent macrocytosis and a mean value of 93.9 fl. With respect to the alcoholic hepatopathy subgroups, macrocytosis is more frequent in portal fibrosis and acute alcoholic hepatitis, the mean value being higher in the latter. We consider macrocytosis to be frequent among alcoholics, and a good persistence indicator of alcoholic ingestion, pathogenically linked to the now proven dyserythropoietic factor of the alcohol upon the bone marrow. There is no statistically significant correlation between anemia and reticulocytes. We consider macrocytosis to be a more precocious data, and believe that the positive correlation with certain intraerythrocitary enzymes in the juvenile population of red cells corroborates this fact. With respect to the rest of parameters studied there was a correlation with gammaglutamiltranspeptidase, glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase, and the value of prothrombin. The values of mean macrocytosis and elevations of gammaglutamiltranspeptidase and glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase are good persistence indicators of alcoholic ingestion.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1979

[Sarcoidosis, toxic thyroid adenoma, and De Quervain's thyroiditis. Association or coincidence (author's transl)].

The case of an association of three well-differentiated pathologies is reported. A 40-year-old woman with a toxic thyroid adenoma developed acute polyarthritis during the course of the disease. The articular symptoms together with chest X-rays and a consistently negative PPD (1:100) were suggestive of sarcoidosis. This was later confirmed by the discovery of non-caseating granulomas in the liver and superficial lymph nodes, and by a positive Kveim's test. Histopathologic examination of the thyroid gland confirmed the existence of the adenoma. Sarcoid infiltration was not observed, but on the other hand the typical images of subacute granulomatous thyroiditis (De Quervain's thyroiditis) were discovered.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1976

The treatment of primary atypical pneumonia with intravenous doxycycline: a report of clinical observations.

Seventeen cases of primary atypical pneumonia which were probably caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae were studied as in-patients in hospital. All of these patients were treated with intravenous doxycycline and responded quickly to therapy. It has been shown that approximately 30-50% of the cases with primary atypical pneumonia are caused by M. pneumoniae. The remainder of the cases are caused by either viruses or possibly rickettsiae.

Adult↗