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Biomedical subjects

C Ribot

Publications and source records attributed to C Ribot.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Influence of the menopause and aging on spinal density in French women.

Dual photon absorptiometry (DPA) was used to measure the bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine in 510 normal women from the south of France. Long-term precision was 2.2%. BMD was stable in young adults and again in women over 70 years of age. Perimenopausal women at an average age of 51 years already evidenced a slight bone diminution (5%) compared to young adults and women within 2 years of the menopause already had a 10% diminution. The average rate of apparent bone loss in this cross-sectional study was 1% per year from age 45 to 65 years, but about 75% of this decrease occurred in the first decade after the menopause. Spinal BMD in our normal French population appears to be 5-10% lower than US values.

Adult↗

Obesity and postmenopausal bone loss: the influence of obesity on vertebral density and bone turnover in postmenopausal women.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of obesity on the postmenopausal bone mass. Bone mineral density, measured by dual photon absorptiometry of the lumbar spine, serum osteocalcin (OC), fasting urinary calcium to creatinine (Ca:Cr), serum estradiol (E2) dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA) and testosterone (T) were measured in 176 women aged 45-71 years. Women were divided into four groups according to their menopausal status and their weight: 49 perimenopausal, 28 obese perimenopausal, 49 obese postmenopausal. Within each population (perimenopausal and postmenopausal), mean age was the same, only weight was significantly different (p less than 0.0001). For the two groups of postmenopausal women mean interval since menopause (YSM) was the same (5.8 +/- 3 and 5.4 +/- 5 yr). Comparison between groups revealed a significant effect of menopausal status and obesity on BMD and bone turnover. As compared to perimenopausal women, BMD was lower, OC and Ca: Cr higher only in nonobese-postmenopausal women. E2, T, DHA did not differ between the two groups of postmenopausal women. The results of this study suggest that even moderate obesity can play a protective role on postmenopausal bone loss.

Aged↗

[Chronic neurological syndrome resulting from intoxication with metallic uranium (author's transl)].

In 1972, a male patient, then 44-year-old, developed foot cramps and leg pain together with increasing gait disorders and a tendency to fall backwards. In 1976, an extrapyramidal syndrome with ataxia, nystagmus and peripheral neuropathy was discovered on neurological examination. The symptoms persisted and remained of obscure origin until 1979, when a detailed aetiological enquiry disclosed that during at least the first three years of his illness the patient had had on his desk a bar of metallic uranium which he frequently handled. Stool analysis showed significant uranium levels. In the absence of any other cause, it would appear that the neurological syndrome was due to intoxication with uranium. Although this had not been previously described in man, there are occasional reports of uranium toxicity in laboratory animals.

Adult↗

Evidence for 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency as a factor contributing to osteopenia in diabetic patients with idiopathic haemochromatosis.

Osteopenia is frequently encountered in the course of idiopathic haemochromatosis. In order to establish the mechanism of this bone disorder, the following parameters were studied in nine diabetic patients wih idiopathic haemochromatosis: (i) the intestinal calcium absorption measured by using a double radiotracer technique; (ii) the bone mineral content (BMC, mg/cm2) determined on the forearm by the Cameron's absorptiometric technique, (iii) the plasma 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D ng/ml) by a competitive protein-binding radioassay. The results were compared to those obtained in ten controls and in eight diabetics without haemochromatosis. The patients suffering from haemochromatosis had a significant fall in total fractional absorption of calcium and BMC as compared with controls and diabetics without haemochromatosis. Furthermore plasma 25-OH-D was significantly lower in haemochromatosis patients (5.1 +/- 0.6 ng/ml) than in controls (16.4 +/- 1.3 ng/ml, P less than 0.01) and in diabetics without haemochromatosis (14.2 +/- 1.4 ng/ml, P less than 0.02). These results indicate that haemochromatosis patients exhibit important disturbances in calcium homeostasis, i.e. low concentration of plasma 25-OH-D and reduced intestinal absorption of calcium. The latter abnormalities may well be related to the bone rarefaction observed in these patients.

Adult↗

[Rare etiology of hemiplegia with young adult: paradoxical embolism (author's transl)].

Paradoxical embolism is due to the passage of an embolic material from the deep veins of the lower extremities or pelvis, into the systemic circulation through an abnormal intracardiac communication. Only the angiographic and hemodynamic diagnosis practised on two young patients with a cerebral embolism, can explain the mechanism. The diagnosis is based on the arterial embolism, the venous thrombosis with or without pulmonary embolism, the abnormal communication favoring right-to-left shunting. The rising of right atrial pressures permits this shunting. This high pressure can result from a pulmonary embolism, a high blood pressue due to an effort, or an embolism that might coil up over the tricuspid valve.

Adult↗

[A symptomatic parathyroid adenoma. Value of parathyroid hormone determination through selective catheterization of the thyroid veins].

A parathyroid adenoma is reported in a girl aged 12 years in whom hypercalcaemia was discovered by chance. Investigation of calcium metabolism suggested the diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism and studies of the urinary cyclic AMP and determination of the plasma parathyroid hormone concentration further added to the evidence. The diagnosis of parathyroid adenoma was made after determination of the parathyroid hormone concentration at various sights during selective catheterization of the tyroid veins. This was confirmed at surgery. In this patient the place of catheterization of the inferior thyroid veins in the early diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism is discussed.

Adenoma↗

[Stimulation by the propranolol-glucagon test of somatotropin secretion in 71 children. Results, statistical study and comparison with the insulin-arginine test].

Two tests of stimulation: insulin + arginine and propranolol + glucagon were successively performed in 62 children who were either normal or had essential growth retardation. Average peak value was 10.6 +/- 1.1 ng/ml in the first test and 22.8 +/- 1.4 ng/ml in the second. In 56 cases the response obtained with propranolol + glucagon was higher than that obtained with insulin + arginine. Twenty-four false negative results were obtained employing insulin + arginine, stimulation by propranolol + glucagon resulting in normal values. The determination of the confidence interval at 95% and of the 3rd percentile did not allow to establish the lower threshold for the insulin + arginine test. For the propranolol + glucagon test 7.6 ng/ml for the interval at 95% and 8 ng/ml for 3rd percentile were found as minimal threshold. Therefore, a response below 8 ng/ml should be considered as pathological with the latter test.

Adolescent↗

[Attempt at potentiation of the action of L-dopa on the secretion of growth hormone by benserazide, disulfiram and propranolol].

Two tests of stimulation of growth hormone secretion were performed in 3 groups of normal children. In the first test L-Dopa was used on its own; in the second, L-Dopa was combined with Benserazide (group A), with Disulfirame (group B), or with Propranolol (group C). In group A the mean peak value after L-Dopa was 9.1 +/- 1.6 ng/ml; with the combination of L-Dopa and Benserazide it was 12.4 +/- 2.4 ng/ml. The difference between the means is not significant. In group B the mean peak value after L-Dopa was 8.9 +/- 3.6 ng/ml; with the combination of L-Dopa and Disulfirame it was 14.5 +/- 4.4 ng/ml. The difference is not significant. In group C the mean peak value after L-Dopa was 9.8 +/- 2.6 ng/ml; with the combination of L-Dopa and Propranolol, it was 10.1 +/- 1.9 ng/ml. Again the difference is not significant. These findings do not provide evidence in favour of the effect of L-Dopa on the secretion of growth hormone being facilitated by an inhibitor of L-Dopa decarboxylase (Benserazide) or of Dopamine beta hydroxylase (Disulfirame), or by a beta blocking agent (Propranolol). The mechanisms of action of L-Dopa and of the various combinations studied are discussed.

Adolescent↗

[Von Eulenburg's congenital paramyotonia and aptitude for military service. Cases taken from a family with 25 cases since 1789].

The authors present four cases of von Eulenberg's paramyotonia. From the family history it was possible to follow the condition through seven generations since 1780; it confirms the autosomal dominant nature of genetic transmission, with almost complete penetrance. From the clinical standpoint, the condition observed is particularly pure, occurring exclusively in the cold. At no time were paralyses or adynamia independent of the myotonic phenomena and of temperature variations observed. The laboratory investigations carried out, ionic and enzyme, showed no abnormalities. Electromyographic study showed the presence of numerous true myotonic out-bursts, variable in shape and in amplitude, independant of the myotonic phenomenon, and present in the absence of exposure to cold. The effects of the condition on aptitude for military service are examined and in this respects the author recalls that the history of myotonia is intimately bound up with medico-military problems.

Adult↗