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Biomedical subjects

C Leport

Publications and source records attributed to C Leport.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Pyogenic and tuberculous spondylodiskitis (vertebral osteomyelitis) in 80 adult patients.

Bacterial spondylodiskitis--i.e., adjacent vertebral osteomyelitis and diskitis--was studied in 80 adult patients. The infection was due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 31 cases (39%) and to pyogenic bacteria in 49 cases (61%). The latter pathogens included gram-negative bacilli in 16 cases (20%), Staphylococcus species in 15 (19%), Streptococcus species in 9 (11%), and Corynebacterium species in 1 (1%); the pathogens in the 8 remaining cases (10%) were not identified. Of the patients with tuberculous spondylodiskitis, 55% came from countries where tuberculosis is endemic (P < .001). Cases due to staphylococci and those due to M. tuberculosis were associated with a high frequency of previous active infection with those respective organisms at any site (47% and 42%, respectively; P < .001) and with a high rate of neurological complications (33% and 32%, respectively; P < .001). Nine patients with pyogenic spondylodiskitis (18%) but only one patient with tuberculous spondylodiskitis (3%) had diabetes mellitus (P < .05). Blood cultures were positive in 23 (56%) of the 41 cases of pyogenic spondylodiskitis due to an identified bacterium. Discovertebral needle biopsy contributed to the bacteriologic diagnosis in 29 (74%) of 39 cases.

Adult↗

Cytomegalovirus colitis in HIV-1-infected patients: a prospective research in 55 patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine criteria for the diagnosis of cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis and to analyse stages of the course and prognosis of CMV colonic involvement in HIV-1-infected patients. DESIGN: Prospective search for CMV colonic involvement with systematic biopsies to search for CMV intranuclear inclusion bodies and for CMV culture. The evolution of CMV colonic involvement was estimated using further coloscopies and autopsy. SETTING: Infectious diseases department in a tertiary referral teaching hospital in Paris, France. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-five consecutive patients with HIV-1 infection, who had not previously received anti-CMV drugs, and who had at least one coloscopy performed. RESULTS: According to initial coloscopy, colitis, either ulcerative or inflammatory, was found in nine (16%) out of the 55 patients, CMV intranuclear inclusions were present in the colon of four (7%) patients, and colonic cultures were positive for CMV in 15 (27%) patients. The results of the initial coloscopy showed a positive correlation between endoscopic colitis (either ulcerative or inflammatory), CMV inclusions and positive CMV culture from colonic biopsies. The absence of endoscopic ulcerative lesions had a 98% (49 out of 50) negative predictive value for recording CMV inclusions in the colon (95% confidence interval, 89-100). CMV inclusions were recorded in three out of five ulcerative colitis. Male homosexuality, HIV-1 infection stages IVB, C1, D or E, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classification, CD4 lymphocyte count < 200 x 10(6)/l and CMV viraemia also correlated positively with CMV colonic involvement. During the observation period (mean, 7.3 months), the estimated incidence of CMV colitis according to coloscopic studies was 13%. Deterioration in condition was the most frequent spontaneous evolution of CMV colonic infection, whereas anti-CMV treatment resulted in an improvement. Ulcerative lesions occurred earlier in patients with colonic CMV inclusions or positive colonic CMV culture than in patients without CMV colonic involvement at the initial coloscopy. CMV colitis occurred late in the course of HIV-1 infection, on average 4 months before death. The presence of CMV inclusions was an indicator of poor prognosis with earlier occurrence of CMV viraemia and retinitis and no survival after 9 months. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm that the colon is a target organ for CMV in HIV-1-infected patients. Coloscopy should be used to diagnose CMV colitis, because of the close correlation between endoscopic and histological data (i.e., intranuclear inclusions). This combination allows us to propose an evolutive staging of CMV colonic involvement and provide stratification criteria to assess the efficacy of anti-CMV drugs.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Extracerebral toxoplasmosis in patients infected with HIV. A French National Survey.

A French nationwide survey of extracerebral toxoplasmosis (ECT) in HIV-infected patients was performed between January 1990 and September 1992. All French hospitals were surveyed, and all but a few responded. Data collected included epidemiologic, clinical, and biologic features; therapy; and outcome. During the 33-month survey, 199 cases were collected. The prevalence of ECT in patients with AIDS can be estimated at 1.5%-2%. Age, sex, and HIV risk factors were similar to those of the general AIDS population in France. Extracerebral toxoplasmosis appeared mainly in HIV-infected patients with advanced immunosuppression: the mean CD4+ lymphocyte count was 57/mm3(+/- 99). The localizations observed were: eyes (50% of patients); lung (26%); disseminated (at least 2 extracerebral visceral localizations) (11.5%); peripheral blood (acute febrile syndrome with isolated positive parasitemia) (3%); heart (3%); bone marrow (3%); bladder (1%); and isolated cases of rhinopharynx, skin, liver, lymph nodes, conus medullaris, and pericardium. In this survey, muscular and pancreatic localizations were always associated with other extracerebral localizations. A cerebral localization was diagnosed in 41% of cases. Serologic data provided little information. Ocular fundus examination, bronchoalveolar lavage, tissue biopsy, and search for parasitemia were the main diagnostic procedures. Treatment was the same as for cerebral toxoplasmosis. A clinical response was observed in 64% of cases; 19% relapsed. Death occurred in 106 (53%) cases and was related to ECT in 34% of cases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Fever of unknown origin in HIV-infected patients: a critical analysis of a retrospective series of 57 cases.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to assess the incidence and aetiology of fever of unknown origin in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, and to evaluate the usefulness of the main diagnostic procedures. DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING AND SUBJECTS: We reviewed the records of 270 HIV-infected patients who were hospitalized for the first time in a department of infectious and tropical diseases during the 27 month study period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fifty-seven patients (21%) had a history of fever of unknown origin. RESULTS: The aetiology was found in 49 cases (86%). The major cause of the fever was mycobacteriosis: atypical mycobacteria in 10 cases, Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 10, mycobacteria of unspecified type in two, and BCG strain in one. A liver biopsy and a thoracic CT scan greatly contributed to the diagnosis of mycobacterial infection. Seventeen patients were given empiric antimycobacterial therapy as a therapeutic test, of whom seven had a favourable response. The other main causes of fever were cytomegalovirus infection in five patients, leishmaniasis in four, and lymphoma in four. CONCLUSIONS: Fever of unknown origin is a frequent occurrence in the course of HIV infection, and mycobacterial infection should be considered as a first-line diagnosis in such cases. The place of empiric antimycobacterial therapy in the diagnostic strategy requires further evaluation, but appears to be an alternative to multiple investigative procedures.

Adult↗

[Recurrence of cerebral toxoplasmosis in 15 AIDS patients].

Relapse of brain toxoplasmosis in AIDS patients continue to occur despite maintenance therapy. The characteristics of 15 patients who experienced a relapse were reviewed. Mean delay of relapse was 7 months (2-20). Maintenance therapy for the 2 months prior to the relapse was pyrimethamine alone (n = 4), pyrimethamine plus dapsone (n = 3), pyrimethamine plus spiramycine (n = 1), pyrimethamine plus clindamycine (n = 4), pyrimethamine plus sulfadiazine (n = 1) and no treatment (n = 2). Strict compliance was ascertained for only 5 patients. Compared with the first episode of brain toxoplasmosis, all 15 patients had new neurological signs, and new lesions of the brain were detected by CT scan in 67% patients. This study showed that poor compliance to maintenance therapy is a major factor of relapse, and the less favourable response to acute therapy could be due to progression of immunodeficiency.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

[Vancomycin in meningitis caused by penicillin G resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae].

We report two cases of penicillin G-resistant pneumococcal meningitis in adults, with clinical and bacteriological failure of amoxicillin and negative or incomplete response to third generation cephalosporins. Meningitis occurred in a man treated for myeloma and in an elderly woman under prolonged intermittent amoxicillin therapy for chronic otitis. Such situations are known as exposing to pneumococcal meningitis and to resistance of the strain involved to penicillin G. Both patients were cured by vancomycin in continuous infusion associated with rifampicin or fosfomycin. Contrary to third generation cephalosporins, which have higher minimal inhibitory concentrations, vancomycin and rifampicin are still fully active against penicillin G-resistant pneumococcal strains. Thus, vancomycin administered in continuous infusion and associated with rifampicin and fosfomycin deserves to be tried as first-line treatment of pneumococcal meningitis in patients at risk of resistance to penicillin G.

Aged↗

[Acquired data on the antibiotic treatment of bacterial endocarditis on native or prosthetic valves].

Antimicrobial therapy of infective endocarditis is based on periodically updated expert recommendations that derive from both clinical and experimental data. Streptococcal and enterococcal endocarditis should be treated intravenously with a combination of penicillin+aminoglycoside in the absence of allergy to penicillin. The choice of either penicillin or ampicillin, the dose and the length of treatment plainly depend on susceptibility of streptococcal strain to penicillin. In patients allergic to penicillin, vancomycin is the optimal choice. The treatment of native valve meticillin-susceptible staphylococcal endocarditis is based on a combination of oxacillin or cefamandole+aminoglycoside. Vancomycin is recommended in case of allergy to penicillin and in meticillin resistant staphylococcal endocarditis. Prosthetic valve staphylococcal endocarditis are often due to meticillin-resistant coagulase negative staphylococci. Therefore they should be treated with vancomycin in combination with rifampicin and an aminoglycoside unless the strain is resistant to either of these 2 antibiotics. For the treatment of culture-negative endocarditis, different situations should be considered: in native valve endocarditis, the possible responsibility of deficient streptococci justifies an ampicillin+aminoglycoside combination; in recently implanted (< 1 year) prosthetic valve endocarditis a combination of vancomycin+rifampicin+aminoglycoside should be used because of the high probability of meticillinresistant staphylococci: if prosthetic valve is implanted for more than a year endocarditis may be due to streptococci, staphylococci and fastidious gram-negative bacilli; a combination of vancomycin+aminoglycoside +/- third generation cephalosporin is therefore recommended.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Toxoplasmic encephalitis in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Members of the ACTG 077p/ANRS 009 Study Team.

BACKGROUND: In patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), toxoplasmic encephalitis is usually a presumptive diagnosis based on the clinical manifestations, a positive antitoxoplasma-antibody titer, and characteristic neuroradiologic abnormalities. A response to specific therapy helps to confirm the diagnosis, but it is unclear how rapid the response should be. We studied the course of patients treated for acute toxoplasmic encephalitis and evaluated objective clinical criteria for this empirical diagnosis. METHODS: A quantifiable neurologic assessment was used prospectively to evaluate the clinical outcome of patients with AIDS and toxoplasmic encephalitis who were treated with oral clindamycin (600 mg four times a day) and pyrimethamine (75 mg every day) for six weeks. RESULTS: Thirty-five of 49 patients (71 percent) responded to therapy, and 30 of these (86 percent) had improvement by day 7. Thirty-two of those with a response (91 percent) improved with respect to at least half of their base-line abnormalities by day 14. Improvement in neurologic abnormalities within 7 to 14 days after the start of therapy was strongly associated with the neurologic response at 6 weeks. The four patients in whom treatment failed and the two patients with lymphoma had progressing neurologic abnormalities or new abnormalities during the first 12 days of therapy. Nonlocalizing abnormalities (headache and seizure) improved regardless of the clinical outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Oral clindamycin and pyrimethamine are an effective treatment for toxoplasmic encephalitis. Patients who have early neurologic deterioration despite treatment or who do not improve neurologically after 10 to 14 days of appropriate antitoxoplasma therapy should be considered candidates for brain biopsy.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

[Infectious sinusitis in HIV infection. Clinical and therapeutic data on 20 patients].

To assess the clinical presentation and outcome of infectious sinusitis in HIV-infected patients, we analyzed in a retrospective study, the records of HIV-infected patients hospitalized from June 1986 to November 1989. Twenty-eight episodes of infectious sinusitis, defined by radiological signs, were recorded in 20 HIV-infected patients. Clinical presentation suggestive of acute sinusitis was inconstant and in 6 episodes a persistent fever was the only symptom. Concomitant pneumonia was detected in 8 episodes. Bacteria were isolated in 8 episodes, and in 4 of them, Haemophilus influenzae was identified. Clinical relapses occurred in 8/20 patients, requiring a surgical drainage in 3 cases. The frequency of relapses and the possibility of chronicity justify a more prolonged and aggressive therapy in infectious sinusitis occurring in HIV-infected patients.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Chronic Q fever. Ninety-two cases from France, including 27 cases without endocarditis.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic Q fever is seldom recognized; before 1989, only 234 cases had been reported in the literature. The 92 cases of chronic Q fever collected at the French National Reference Center for Rickettsioses from 1982 through 1990 represent the largest series ever reported. PATIENTS: The patients included in the study were diagnosed between July 31, 1982, and August 1, 1990, at the French National Reference Center for Rickettsioses as having chronic Q fever by the following criteria: presence of antibody against Coxiella burnetii phase I antigen at a titer greater than or equal to 800 for IgG and 50 for IgA by the indirect immunofluorescence test. Epidemiologic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data were collected from 39 different collaborative hospitals throughout France. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: For each serologically selected patient, a computerized questionnaire was utilized to record 188 different items of demographic, epidemiologic, clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic data, which were analyzed. RESULTS: Chronic Q fever occurs more frequently in city dwellers than in rural inhabitants, and exposure to domestic ruminants and raw milk is an important feature. Immunocompromising conditions (20.2%) and underlying heart disease (88.4%) or vascular disease are the most important risk factors to consider in potential cases of chronic Q fever. The mortality in these patients with endocarditis was high (23.5%). The clinical spectrum of 84 patients included 57 cases of endocarditis, three cases of vascular prosthesis infection, three cases of aneurysmal infection, three cases of osteoarthritis, four cases with lung localizations, nine asymptomatic cases, three cases of hepatitis, and two cases with cutaneous forms of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with unexplained fever, negative blood cultures, and a history of underlying vascular or cardiac disease, Q fever should be considered.

Adult↗

Prolonged and fatal disseminated cytomegalovirus infection in an immunocompetent woman.

The case of an immunocompetent woman who died of disseminated cytomegalovirus infection with encephalitis and skin ulcerations is reported. The duration of the disease, from onset to death, was five months. Cytomegalovirus was found in the blood, urine, skin, muscle, liver and periventricular brain tissue, but not in frontal cortex tissue. This case underlines the fact that cytomegalovirus may exceptionally cause life-threatening illness in immunocompetent adults.

Adult↗

Pyrimethamine plus azithromycin for treatment of acute toxoplasmic encephalitis in patients with AIDS.

A prospective study was conducted to evaluate azithromycin in combination with pyrimethamine for treatment of acute Toxoplasma encephalitis in patients with AIDS. Of the 14 patients given 75 mg pyrimethamine and 500 mg azithromycin daily for four weeks, eight were evaluable for clinical response. Five responded favorably, one had an intermediate response and two an unfavorable response. Of the nine patients evaluable for radiological response, six responded favorably, and three had an intermediate response. Eleven adverse events occurred in nine patients: rash (n = 5), abnormal liver function (n = 2), vomiting (n = 3) and hypoacousia (n = 1). This pilot study suggests that the combination of pyrimethamine and azithromycin may be further investigated and that the optimal dosage of azithromycin has yet to be determined.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

[Risk factors of cerebral toxoplasmosis in patients with HIV infection: data of a primary prevention trial].

To identify risk factors for cerebral toxoplasmosis (CT) in HIV patients (pts) with positive serology for Toxoplasma gondii and CD4 < 200/mm3, data from the placebo group (N = 280) of a primary prophylaxis trial, were analyzed. The probability of onset of CT (n = 46) was, at one year, 13.1%. Three baseline variables were independently associated with a higher risk of CT: group IV non AIDS, AIDS stage and CD4 < 50/mm3. Initial titer of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii was not.

Double-Blind Method↗