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Biomedical subjects

J Devriendt

Publications and source records attributed to J Devriendt.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Isolated respiratory insufficiency in Arnold-Chiari malformation].

We report on a 45-year old woman with daytime sleepiness, polycythemia, hypoxemia and hypercapnia, admitted to hospital on three occasions in a 10 month period for acute respiratory failure. Polysomnography demonstrated apneas of central type, testing of the respiratory drive suggested central alveolar hypoventilation and magnetic resonance imaging showed an Arnold-Chiari malformation with syringomyelia. The originality of this case is the absence of any neurologic sign, respiratory failure being the sole manifestation of the Arnold-Chiari malformation.

Acute Disease

[Biliary ileus].

A case of gallstone ileus in an elderly woman is described and attention is drawn to the insidious clinical presentation and the significance of the often subtle radiological signs. The data from the literature specifies these aspects and allows a more complete review of this relatively rare pathology in order to remind its importance in differential diagnosis to emergency clinicians and radiologists.

Biliary Fistula

Acute nonlymphocytic leukemia following chemotherapy with cisplatin and etoposide for non-small-cell carcinoma of the lung: case report.

A case of acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) following chemotherapy with cisplatin (CDDP) and etoposide (VP16) for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) diagnosed 24 months before is reported. Although the fortuitous occurrence of two unrelated malignancies cannot be excluded, the hypothesis of secondary leukemia must be taken into account. The clinical and experimental data implying these agents, generally considered to be noncarcinogenic in man, in the occurrence of secondary malignancies are briefly discussed.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols

Legionellosis and "torsades de pointes".

Myocarditis, pericarditis and endocarditis are rare manifestations of Legionella pneumophila infection. We describe a case of myocarditis complicated with a potentially fatal arrhythmia: "torsades de pointes".

Aged

[Thymoma and pregnancy. Apropos of a case].

A case of thymoma associated with pregnancy is reported. This association is extremely rare (8 described cases) and the clinical outcome is most frequently unfavorable for the mother. The diagnosis was given by a standard chest X-ray performed routinely post-partum. Sixteen months after total surgical extirpation of the tumor and adjunctive radiotherapy the patient is still in complete remission. The presented case is discussed with reference to a review of literature.

Adult

Relationships between plasma epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine and angiotensin II concentrations, renin activity, hemodynamic state and prognosis in acute heart failure.

The relationships between hemodynamic state and plasma components of the renin-angiotensin and adrenergic nervous systems were studied in 42 patients admitted to an intensive care unit with acute heart failure. Patients were allocated to four subsets according to cardiac output and pulmonary wedge pressure. Plasma renin activity and angiotensin II were abnormally high in most patients with cardiac output less than or equal to 3.81 X min-1 and pulmonary wedge pressure greater than or equal to 18 mm Hg in contrast with values of patients of the 3 other subsets, which overlapped the normal range. On the other hand, plasma catecholamines were abnormally high in most patients. Angiotensin II was positively correlated with pulmonary wedge pressure, urea and catecholamines and negatively correlated with cardiac output and natremia. Norepinephrine was uncorrelated with hemodynamic parameters but epinephrine was negatively correlated with cardiac output. A discriminant linear function was calculated for prognosis of survival: cardiac output was the most important factor. The rise of angiotensin II and epinephrine were not unfavorable factors if their correlations with other factors (e.g. cardiac output and urea) were taken into account.

Acute Disease

Cardiac tamponade as first manifestation of colonic cancer.

Metastatic cardiac tamponade was the presenting manifestation of a colonic carcinoma. The patient's condition improved after surgical treatment and shows no sign of recurrence of pericardial effusion after more than eight months of systemic chemotherapy. Metastatic pericardial effusions and their treatment are discussed.

Adenocarcinoma