Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Christmann.
We report the first case of endocarditis caused by a Gordonia species genetically related to G. sputi but exhibiting some atypical biochemical features in a 31-year-old woman with a central venous catheter. This unusual pathogen may be a new cause of opportunistic infections in patients with severe underlying diseases.
A case of a benign retroperitoneal schwannoma invading vertebral body is reported. Clinical manifestations are not specific. Imaging studies (U.S., NMR) provide detailed information with regard to its anatomical relations. The treatment of choice for this lesion, regarding its slow growth and exceptional malignancy, is a large removal of the tumour respecting major truncal nerves.
The authors report a case of acute nephritis which appears during a treatment with phenindione. The nephropathy described after this medication are now well known. Their manifestations are either a proteinuria associated or not with a nephrotic syndrome or an interstitial nephritis whose pronostic is reserved. In this observation the mechanism is different : the lesion is glomerular and complicates an allergic vasculitis which was secondary to the phenindione's therapy. The pronostic was good.
The tick-borne encephalitis virus, a major arbovirus, is endemic in Central and Eastern Europe. Since the first case of tick-borne encephalitis observed in Alsace in 1968, there have been approximately 30 cases reported in eastern France. The tick Ixodes persulcatus (and the western subtype I. ricinus) is both the main reservoir and vector of the disease. Early clinical signs of infection are followed by a second phase complicated with meningoencephalitis. The geographical distribution of the different viral subtypes would explain the variable severity of tick-borne encephalitis. Outcome may be fatal or leave major neurological sequellae. Currently, only symptomatic treatment is available, underlining the importance of prevention with anti-tick-borne virus vaccine for populations at risk living in endemic areas.