A S Castro | Search PubMed

PubMed1993

[Giant cell arteritis (Horton's disease): report of 18 cases].

The authors present and comment on 18 cases of Giant-cell arteritis observed in an Internal Medicine Department between 1984 and 1991 with emphasis on clinical aspects and diagnostic considerations, on the occult presentation forms and, finally, on two cases with peripheral neuropathy. The clinical manifestations were: headache (78%), general non-specific symptoms (78%), polymyalgia rheumatica (61%), sudden blindness (33%), local temporal signs (28%), jaw pain (24%), articular complaints (17%) and peripheral neuropathy (12%).

Aged↗

PubMed1992

[Behcet's disease. Experience of an internal medicine service from 1982 to 1991].

The authors present the results of a retrospective study on Behçet's disease, concerning 19 patients observed in Medicine Service 2 (Santo António dos Capuchos Hospital) between 1982 and 1991. There were 15 male and 4 female patients, with a mean age of 33. The clinical manifestations were: oral--100%, ocular--100%, genital--89%, articular--79%, cutaneous--68%, general non-specific manifestations--52%, venous--26%, peripheral nervous system--21%, central nervous system--10% and persistent headaches--10%.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Favism].

Favism is an acute hemolytic syndrome occurring in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficient individuals after the consumption of fava beans. The authors report the clinical case of a 16 year-old boy admitted to hospital with an acute hemolytic episode after the ingestion of fava beans. Complementary studies revealed G6PD deficiency. A study of the family and a short review about favism is presented.

Abdominal Pain↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Lysine-vasopressin in the evaluation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in children with allergic rhinitis treated with intranasal beclomethasone dipropionate or oral prednisone.

One of the complications of steroid therapy is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis' suppression, particularly in children where this can lead to growth suppression and other well known complications. Although there are a large number of studies on suppression of the HPA axis with the use of topical steroids, the subject is still controversial. We measured the HPA axis function in 3 groups of allergic children treated with: 1) intranasal beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) 400 micrograms/day for 4 weeks or 2) BDP 800 micrograms/day for 4 weeks and 3) oral prednisone, 1 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks. The HPA response was obtained after lysine-vasopressin (LVP) stimulation. LVP acts on the pituitary or hypothalamus level, stimulating the whole axis. Peripheral blood samples through an intravenous line were obtained for serum cortisol measurement at zero, 30, 60, and 90 minutes after the intravenous injection of LVP, before and after the treatment period. Our results showed no suppression of the HPA axis in children medicated with BDP at either 400 micrograms/day or 800 micrograms/day. On the other hand, there was a suppression of the HPA axis after prednisone treatment (p < 0.05). During the LVP test some side effects, possibly due to systemic vasoconstriction, were noted such as abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, and transient hypertension. In conclusion, intranasal BDP at the dose of 400 or 800 micrograms/day during 4 weeks did not induce HPA axis suppression. The LVP test is efficient to demonstrate HPA hypofunction or suppression and it produced only mild to moderate transient side effects. However, due to the side effects observed, a safer test such as urinary free cortisol (24 hours), should be used in the investigation of the HPA axis.

Administration, Intranasal↗