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Biomedical subjects

C Paré

Publications and source records attributed to C Paré.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

[Reversibility of alcoholic myocardiopathy with abstinence: presentation of 2 cases].

The sustained alcohol intake results in the development of a dilated cardiomyopathy; its pathogenesis and prognostic and evolutive factors have not yet been completely defined. It is classically considered that alcoholic cardiomyopathy has a poor prognosis, as two thirds of patients die within three years. However, in recent years some isolated cases of clinical reversibility after short abstinence periods have been reported without identification of the involved factors. Two chronic alcoholic patients are reported with congestive heart failure at admission; a diagnosis of alcoholic cardiomyopathy was made after cardiac catheterization and endomyocardial biopsy. The morphometric study of endomyocardial biopsy showed a preservation of the myofibrillary fraction with mild fibrosis. The clinical outcome was favorable: after three months of alcoholic abstinence, a complete clinical recovery with definite improvement of echocardiographic parameters and left ventricular ejection fraction in the radionuclide ventriculography were observed. Finally, the factors that appear to be involved in the presence or absence of reversibility of this type of cardiomyopathy are discussed.

Adult↗

Predictors of non-fatal ischemic events after myocardial infarction.

We characterize predictors of reinfarction and angina in 403 consecutive men aged 60 years or less who underwent heart catheterization within one month (18 +/- 6 days) after a qualifying myocardial infarction. Angiography showed obstructive lesions (greater than or equal to 50% diameter reduction) in 380 patients. One-, two- and three-vessel disease was found in 143 (36%), 139 (35%) and 98 (29%) patients, respectively. After 57 months of follow-up there were 60 deaths (12%), 41 patients (10%) sustained a new infarction and 210 (52%) had angina. Cox regression analysis selected the number of diseased vessels as the only independent 'predictor of reinfarction; independent predictors of angina were the number of diseased vessels and a history of angina prior to the qualifying infarction. Risk stratification showed the probability of reinfarction at 6 years to be significantly lower (P less than 0.001) in patients with one-vessel disease (12%) than in those with two- (30%) and three-vessel disease (37%). Similarly the probability of angina was also lower (P less than 0.001) in patients with one-vessel disease (51%) as compared to those with two- (72%) and three-(74%) vessel involvement. Thus multi-vessel disease is the main predictor of new non-fatal ischemic events after myocardial infarction.

Angina Pectoris↗

Bone scan in systemic amyloidosis.

Thirty patients diagnosed as having systemic amyloidosis (six with primary amyloidosis and 24 with secondary amyloidosis) were given bone scans with 99Tcm-methylene diphosphonate in order to evaluate the skeletal and extra-osseous uptake and their clinical-scintigraphic correlation. Extra-osseous uptake appeared in nine instances, more frequently in primary (5/6) than in secondary (4/24) amyloidosis. Fourteen patients had clinical and echocardiographic suspicion of cardiac amyloidosis but only one showed cardiac uptake. Six patients had probable hepatic involvement but in only two cases was hepatic uptake seen. The extra-osseous uptake suggests the presence of amyloid deposits in the organs and soft tissues which take up the bone tracer. The absence of any uptake does not rule out amyloid infiltration.

Adult↗

Maturational changes of caffeine concentrations and disposition in infancy during maintenance therapy for apnea of prematurity: influence of gestational age, hepatic disease, and breast-feeding.

Twenty-three premature infants receiving caffeine maintenance therapy were followed prospectively for several months. Three to nine determinations of caffeine half-life (peak and trough caffeine levels) were made in each baby. This first longitudinal study confirmed that the half-life of caffeine is prolonged during the neonatal period (97.6 + 32 hours and for as many as 38 weeks' gestation in several very premature babies). Contrary to previous assumptions, gestational age and postconceptional age seem to be closely related to maturation of hepatic caffeine elimination after the neonatal period, although a high variability of caffeine half-life was observed between infants. Adult values (6 hours) were obtained about 60 weeks postconceptional. Caffeine half-life was greatly increased in two infants who had cholestatic hepatitis secondary to prolonged parenteral alimentation and one infant who was breast-fed exclusively. In this last case, the role of maternal hormones in repressing the normal enzymatic maturation process is strongly suspected. Adequate blood levels of caffeine were usually obtained with a caffeine half-life greater than 30 hours up to 46 weeks postconceptional with a dose of 5 mg/kg of caffeine citrate. Caffeine predose monitoring is adequate up to 46 weeks postconceptional, and caffeine half-life determination is mandatory whenever the trough level is too high or too low, icterus is present, and from 46 to 50 weeks postconception.

Aging↗

Iatrogenic lesions of the upper airway in the newborn.

A retrospective study of 140 babies who survived the first week of life and who had endotracheal intubation showed that 65 of them had either or both of the following complications of endotracheal tube therapy: (a) Collapse of one or more lobes with the tube in place or within the first two days following extubation and lasting less than 24 hours. When collapse lasted more than 48 hours, it often required repeated intubation for tracheal cleansing. The right lung, especially its upper lobe, was predominantly affected. (b) Tracheal lesions and nasal necrosis. A statistical comparison with intubated babies of similar age without complications showed the following factors to predispose to lobar collapse: younger gestational age, maximal high oxygen concentration administered, and prolonged duration of intubation. The results of endotracheal tube cultures bore no relation to the complication rate.

Airway Obstruction↗

[Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and HLA-B27].

Forty children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis were studied to determine the frequency of the histocompatibility antigen HLA [human leukocyte antigen)-B27 in this disease and to characterize the arthropathy associated with this antigen. HLA-B27 was detected in four patients (10%). Its presence was associated in a statistically significant manner with sacroiliitis demonstrated radiologically and with a greater age at the time symptoms in the joints first appeared; this age was, on average, 10 years, compared with 6.29 years for the children without HLA-B27.

Adolescent↗

Necrotizing enterocolitis. Epidemic following an outbreak of Enterobacter cloacae type 3305573 in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Twelve cases of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) occurred within three weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with 325 annual admissions. Enterobacter cloacae type 3305573 was found in stool and/or blood cultures from affected babies prior to the onset of the disease. This bacterium could not be grown in cultures from infants in the same NICU six weeks later. A causal relationship between E cloacae and the epidemic of NEC is suggested.

Cross Infection↗