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Biomedical subjects

J Bensaid

Publications and source records attributed to J Bensaid.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

[Complications of idiopathic mitral valve prolapse. Prevention and treatment].

Mitral valve prolapse is the most common form of heart disease, as it occurs in 4 to 6 per cent of the population. It has a benign course in the majority of cases, but 5 types of severe complication can occur in 15 per cent of cases. Mitral incompetence occurs in 14.8 per cent of cases. It may develop gradually or suddenly, following rupture of the chordae, which requires rapid surgical repair. Mitral valve prolapse is complicated by infectious endocarditis in 2.9 per cent of cases, hence the need for antibiotic prophylaxis prior to dental treatment or surgery in patients with a pan-systolic or end-systolic murmur. The only arrhythmias which should be considered as complications and treated as such are frequent ventricular extrasystoles of more than 30 per hour, usually associated with bigeminy, runs or polymorphism, ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. Treatment consists, primarily, of beta-blockers. Sudden death is of course the major complication, occurring in 1.4 to 2.4 per cent of cases. The patients at risk of this complication are middle-aged women (40 years) with a past history of syncope or faintness due, in most cases, to episodes of ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. Apart from arrhythmia, coronary artery spasm has also been found to be a cause of sudden death in these patients. Transient or definitive ocular and cerebral ischaemic episodes can also complicate mitral valve prolapse. Mitral valve prolapse is found in 20 to 30 per cent of patients with neurological accidents before the age of 45. Preventative treatment consists of anti-platelet aggregation agents and anticoagulants in recurrent cases.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗

[Continuous Döppler and aortic dissection. Apropos of 2 cases of protosystolic Döppler velocity wave anomalies in type I aortic dissections].

The diagnosis of dissection of the aorta is based on clinical examination, echocardiography and angiography of the aortic arch. Continuous Döppler ultrasonography may also be useful as a very suggestive abnormality of the wave form can be recorded from the dissected vessels, comprising a deep early mid systolic notch which gives the wave a double hump appearance. This phenomenon, observed in two type I dissections, was recorded from the right subclavian and vertebral arteries in the first case in which the initial components of the systolic wave of the right carotid artery were also amputated. In the second case, the phenomenon was recorded from all vessels arising from the aortic arch. The underlying mechanism could be herniation of the false into the true arterial lumen leading to temporary obstruction of systolic ejection. Another possibility is the successive recording of blood flow first in the true and then in the false lumen. Midsystolic Döppler abnormalities have also been described in aortic regurgitation, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, atheromatous plaques causing a valve effect; however, the timing, morphology and extension of these abnormalities are quite different. In practice, the finding of this abnormality is an additional argument in favour of the diagnosis of dissection of the aorta. Continuous Döppler ultrasonography is also a good method of assessing the peripheral consequences of the dissection.

Aged↗

[Recurrent ejection of aortic valve prostheses. Apropos of 22 case reports].

Twenty two cases of recurrent perivalvular leaks in aortic valve prostheses were reviewed in a multicentre cooperative study. From 1963 to 1978, 22 patients, mean age 39 years, underwent aortic valve replacement; 18 patients had aortic regurgitation, 6 due to infective endocarditis, and 4 patients had calcific aortic stenosis. Eight Starr-Edwards, 6 Smeloff-Cutter, 2 Braunwald-Cutter, 3 Björk, 1 Lillehei-Kaster and 2 bioprostheses were inserted. All 22 patients had to be reoperated for perivalvular leaks due to active or previous infective endocarditis in 7 cases. The prostheses implanted (3 reinsertions, 19 valve replacements) were 10 Starr-Edwards, 4 Smeloff-Cutter, 5 Björk, 1 Lillehei-Kaster, 1 Magovern and 1 bioprosthesis. All 22 patients had further perivalvular leaks, 6 caused by infective endocarditis, and 15 patients underwent a third operation. The prostheses implanted this time (2 reinsertions, 13 valve replacements) were 4 Starr-Edwards, 3 Smeloff-Cutter, 7 Björk and 1 bioprosthesis. Four patients had a third perivalvular leak, and 2 patients a fourth perivalvular leak. The first and second episodes of perivalvular leak were detected early in over half the cases. They were associated with cardiac failure, angina and hemolysis in 20 to 45% of cases. The average period between the first and second operations, and the 2nd and 3rd operations were 15 months and 9 months respectively. Overall, 11 patients died (50%), 4 due to cardiac failure and 3 of sudden death; 3 patients have been lost to follow-up (14%), and there are 8 survivors (36%) with a mean follow-up period of 5 years. However, the mortality rate when the cause of perivalvular leak was infective, was 82%, and only 18% when the cause was mechanical. The factors which favour recurrent perivalvular leaks are infection (30% of cases) and technical difficulties related to the poor quality of the aortic ring (calcification, dystrophy or dilatation). The prevention of this complication depends on careful peroperative technique, the use of certain surgical bypass techniques, a constant battle against infection, and regular examination of operated patients.

Adult↗

Rapid disappearance of left ventricular mass (presumed thrombus) in a patient with cardiomyopathy.

A man aged 41 years with a clinical diagnosis of cardiomyopathy and hepatic insufficiency was found, on angiocardiography, to have a mass, presumably a thrombus, within the left ventricle. A second angiocardiogram performed five days later showed that the thrombus had disappeared. The mechanism invoked was more probably an increase of spontaneous fibrinolysis as described in cirrhotic patients, perhaps helped by heparin, rather than ejection of the mass from the ventricle with silent embolisation somewhere in the systemic circulation.

Adult↗

[Traumatic tricuspid insufficiency with right-left atrial shunt].

A particular form of traumatic tricuspid incompetence with a right-to-left interatrial shunt through a patent foramen ovale is reported. This case and six similar previously published reports have the following features in common: clinically, tricuspid incompetence is associated with cyanosis and raised jugular venous pressure, pulsatile hepatomegaly and a systolic murmur in the subxiphoid region in about haĺf the cases. The ECG showed incomplete or complete right bundle branch block in six of the seven cases, associated with left anterior hemiblock in four cases. The right cardiac chambers were dilated in all cases. Diagnosis may be confirmed by cardiac catheterisation and selective angiocardiography. The outcome and tolerance of the condition depend on the underlying tricuspid lesions. Papillary muscle rupture imposes early surgical intervention. Rupture or elongation of the chordae is compatible with good tolerance over a number of years.

Bundle-Branch Block↗

[Risks and median-term results of aortic valve replacement for calcifying aortic stenosis in 100 patients more than 70 years old].

100 patients with poorly tolerated calcific aortic stenosis underwent aortic valve replacement by the same surgical team (Starr-Edwards prosthesis: 52 cases, Bjäork prosthesis: 43 cases, Lillehei-Kaster prosthesis: 2 cases, and Hancock bioprosthesis: 3 cases) between July 1971 and April 1978. The hospital mortality was 17% and acute pulmonary oedema and cardiomegaly were poor preoperative prognostic factors. The late mortality was 14.5% with an average follow-up period of 25 months (range: 2 to 74 months). The survival rate expressed as an actuarial graph was 63.1 +/- 4% at 4 years. 90% of the patients operated move up at least one class in the New York Heart Association classification and 2/3 return to Stage I. The cardiothoracic ratio improved from 0.58 +/- 0.06 to 0.51 +/- 0.03 (p less than 0.02) and the Soko low-Lyon index from 40 +/- 13 to 25 +/- 6 (p less than 0.001). The main complication encountered at middle term was haemorrhage, observed in 17.5% patients. Comparison of the spontaneous outcome of the disease with the results of surgery favour surgical treatment of patients over 70 years old with poorly tolerated calcific aortic stenosis. The valve of choice should be the bioprosthesis when dependance on anticoagulant therapy and the associated risks of haemorrhage are taken into consideration.

Aged↗

[Risks and long-term results or tricuspid monovalvular replacement, using a ball or disk prosthesis. Apropos of 21 cases].

21 patients (15 with stage IV and 6 with stage III symptoms by the NYHA classification) underwent monovalvular tricuspid replacement with a ball or disc prosthesis for varying tricuspid pathology, bacterial endocarditis in half the cases, between June 1964 and July 1973. Hospital mortality was 29 p. 100 (6 patients), medium-term mortality, nil. There were 23 survivors (62 p. 100) with an average follow up of 7 years (range 5 years to 10 years 4 months), 12 of whom recovered to stage I disability by the NYHA classification after the first postoperative year. 12 patients are on long-term anticoagulant therapy and 3 on diuretic or digitalo-diuretic therapy. The main complications observed were 2 prosthetic thromboses and 3 haemorrhages for 1095 patient-months. The results are to be compared with those bioprostheses, which, not requiring anti-coagulant therapy, may tend to supplant ball and disc prostheses.

Adolescent↗