Biomedical subjects

Alain Sanvoisin

Publications and source records attributed to Alain Sanvoisin.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Abusive prescription of psychostimulants: a study of two cases.

Because psychostimulants have serious possible side effects and particular potential for abuse, their therapeutic indications are today exclusively limited to disorders such as obesity, narcolepsy, or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. We report two cases of abusive prescription of these drugs. The first concerns a woman who was treated for a 3 kg weight gain with fenproporex for 5 years and presented a withdrawal syndrome when this drug was no longer marketed in France. In the second case, a woman who complained of atypical sleep problems was prescribed modafinil, methylphenidate, clobazam, lormetazepam, meprobamate, and aceprometazine, and was found dead in her home a few weeks later in unexplained circumstances. For these two patients, neither the indications, nor the contraindications, nor the prescribing rules for these restricted drugs had been complied with. This case report highlights the extreme danger of these substances and stresses the importance of adhering to the rules of prescription.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Malnutrition, a rare form of child abuse: diagnostic criteria.

Infantile malnutrition is often difficult to diagnose as it is rarely observed in industrialized countries. It may be associated with physical violence or occur in isolation. The essential clinical sign is height and weight retardation, but malnutrition also causes a variety of internal and bone lesions, which lead to neuropsychological sequelae and death. We report a rare case of death by malnutrition in a female child aged 6 1/2 months. The infant presented height and weight growth retardation and internal lesions related to prolonged protein-energy malnutrition (fat and muscle wasting, thymic atrophy, liver steatosis) resulting in a picture of marasmus or kwashiorkor. We detail the positive and negative criteria that established the diagnosis of abuse, whereas the parents had claimed a simple dietary error.

Acetone↗

PubMed2005

An unusual case of post-mortem redistribution of ethanol.

We report an unusual case of post-mortem redistribution of ethanol in a woman diver who died by drowning in seawater. The ethanol concentrations were right heart blood 0.60 g/l, left heart blood 2.08 g/l, femoral venous blood 0.63 g/l, gastric contents 5.87 g/l, bile 0.83 g/l. The mechanisms of post-mortem redistribution of ethanol described in the literature, that is, early redistribution from the stomach or the lung parenchyma in the case of inhalation of gastric contents, are inadequate to account for the degree of variation observed between the measurements. We believe that this difference in concentration is explained by the presence of seawater in the pulmonary alveoli at the time of death.

Alcoholic Beverages↗

PubMed2005

Comparison of ethanol concentrations in right cardiac blood, left cardiac blood and peripheral blood in a series of 30 cases.

The aim of this study was to compare ethanol concentrations in right cardiac blood, left cardiac blood and peripheral blood. Samples were taken from a series of 30 medicolegal autopsies. Ethanol was measured by headspace GC-FID. In each case, the degree of putrefaction, chest or abdominal injury, and/or regurgitation of gastric contents into the airways were noted. Our results show that there exists in certain cases a marked increase in ethanol concentration in left cardiac blood compared with right cardiac blood and peripheral blood. In these cases, we observed (i) a high concentration of ethanol in the gastric contents and (ii) regurgitation of gastric contents into the airways. The authors discuss the post-mortem redistribution mechanisms which could explain these results and stress the value of sampling right cardiac blood at autopsy.

Central Nervous System Depressants↗

PubMed2005

Hyperostosis frontalis interna: forensic issues.

The use of pathological conditions in age and sex determination, important factors in personal identification, is not widespread in anthropology and legal medicine. Hyperostosis frontalis interna (HFI) is a bone condition that mainly affects the inner table of the frontal bone. Although there are numerous publications on the subject, at the present time its etiology remains obscure. Several associations of symptoms, whose incidence varies according to the population studied, have been described. Age and gender appear to be linked with the preponderance of this condition, as does the presence of behavioral disturbances. The aim of our study, based on a series of 1532 autopsies, was to define the incidence and the associations observed with other pathological conditions. Thirteen cases of HFI were identified (0.8% of autopsies), 12 women and one man whose mean age was 59.15 years (range: 42-79 years). All had behavioral disturbances and most were under psychiatric care. This study emphasizes the value of this condition in medico-legal identification.

Adult↗