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Biomedical subjects

J Hazard

Publications and source records attributed to J Hazard.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Jan Stephan Van Calcar, a valuable and unrecognized collaborator of Vesalius].

Numerous and legitimate homages have been paid to Andreas Vesalius, eminent personality of the medical Renaissance. At that time scientific anatomy was inseparable from artistic one. As soon as 1535, Vesalius then 21 years old taught in Padova and at the University of Venice, a town harbouring many artists. It has been suggested that he had obtained the collaboration of Titian himself, but this hypothesis has not been confirmed. In fact "Lives of the best painters, sculptors and architects" G. Vasari expresses his admiration for the prints drawn by Calcar: "the illustrations conceived by Vesalius for his Fabrica and drawn by the outstanding flemish painter Jan Stephan Calcar are of an excellent style". For Carel van Mander nicknamed the "Vasari of the ancient Netherlands", it is to Calcar we owe Vesalius' anatomical plates. The reasons which have led this Flemish born around 1510 in Kalkar, a small town of the Cleves dukedom, to settle in Venice are both general and personal. Pupil of Titian, Calcar was an excellent portrait-painter who assimilated so well his master's style that he was adopted by the Italians calling him Giovanni Calcar. This valuable collaborator of Vesalius and brilliant pupil of Titian went to Naples for unknown reasons and stayed there until his premature death around 1546.

Anatomy, Artistic↗

[Epilepsy-acquired aphasia syndrome with psychosis. Report of a case ].

We report the case of a boy whose development was normal until the age of three when regression with loss of speech occurred. Other anomalies included eating and sleep disorders, sterotyped behavior disorders, suggesting infantile psychosis. The electroencephalogram evidenced paroxysmal anomalies, particularly during sleep, with no clinical seizures. The diagnosis of epilepsia-acquired aphasia syndrome (Landau-Kleffner syndrome) was made. The psychotic disorders were not considered as a differential diagnosis but rather as intertwined with the elements of the syndrome. The relationship between acquired aphasia and psychosis are discussed.

Aphasia↗

Taste impairment and related factors in type I diabetes mellitus.

To study taste in type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus, 57 consecutive diabetic outpatients (mean +/- SE duration of diabetes 11.4 +/- 0.4 yr) and 38 control subjects were screened for taste disorders with electrogustometry and chemical gustometry. Both groups were comparable for all subject characteristics except body mass index, which was higher in the diabetic group (P less than .05). A taste impairment was found in the diabetic group relative to the control group with electrogustometry (mean threshold 184.3 +/- 15.8 vs. 58.7 +/- 9.2 microA; P less than .001) and chemical gustometry (mean score 13.2 +/- 0.7 vs. 17.1 +/- 0.8; P less than .001). Hypogeusia was found among 73% of the diabetic patients versus 16% of the control subjects (P less than .001). The four primary tastes were involved in taste impairment. With multivariate analysis, taste disorders were related to diabetic status and tobacco and alcohol consumption. In the diabetic group, taste impairment was significantly associated with complications and duration of disease. With multivariate analysis, peripheral neuropathy had the strongest association with taste disorders. These results suggest that taste is impaired during the course of type I diabetes mellitus and that taste impairment could be a complication of the disease. A mechanism of the neuropathic type could be involved.

Adult↗

[Taste disorders and associated factors in type 1 diabetes].

In order to study taste in type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent), 57 consecutive diabetic patients (mean duration of diabetes +/- SEM = 11.4 +/- 0.4 years) and 38 control subjects underwent electrogustometry and chemical gustometry. The diabetic and control group were comparable with the exception of the ponderal index which was significantly higher in diabetics (p less than 0.05). A deterioration in taste appreciation was confirmed in the diabetic group compared to the control group on electrogustometry (mean threshold: 184.3 +/- 15.8 vs 58.7 +/- 9.2 mu A; p less than 0.001) and chemical gustometry (mean score: 13.2 +/- 0.7 vs 17.1 +/- 0.8; p less than 0.001). Electrical hypogueusia was found in 73% of the diabetics compared to 16% of controls (p less than 0.001). The 4 primary tastes were involved in the deterioration. Multivariate analysis associated the taste disorder with the diabetic status of the subjects, their alcohol and tobacco consumption. In the diabetic group the deterioration in taste was associated with the complications and duration of diabetes. On multivariate analysis peripheral neuropathy had the strongest association with taste disorders. These results suggest that deterioration in taste occurs during the progression of type 1 diabetes and that the taste disorder could be a degenerative complication of the disease. A neuropathic type mechanism could be involved.

Adult↗

[Management of large adrenal glands discovered incidentally].

Incidental adrenal tumors are more and more often discovered with development of the new radiological techniques (CT scan, sonography). In such an occurrence, the largest panel of adrenal hormones measurements is needed. In the absence of hormonal abnormality, no exam can help for the clinical decision-making. According to epidemiological findings, we propose to operate upon tumors larger than 6 cm and to repeat CT scans at 2, 6 and 18 months for tumors smaller than 6 cm which should be operated upon if an enlargement of the adrenal tumor is demonstrated by a control exam. This attitude relies upon the quite higher frequency of adrenal adenomas (more than 99% of non-functioning adrenal tumors) and the more important risk of malignant adrenal carcinoma in front of a huge tumor. It appears to be the right choice in a cost-effectiveness perspective.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗

[Treatment of endemic and sporadic goiter].

Early continuous hormonal treatment, inhibiting TSH secretion, reduces the volume of recent homogeneous goiters. This treatment is usually well tolerated, but can induce thyrotoxicosis in subjects with blunted response of TSH to TRH stimulation before treatment. Surgery is used for large goiters, compressive goiters or suspicion of cancer and after failure of the hormonal treatment. In all cases, hormonal treatment must be associated to surgery. Radio-iodine can be used for large or compressive goiters, when surgery is inadvisable. Despite the risk of thyrotoxicosis, iodine addition in food intake is useful to prevent goiters. The frequency of thyrotoxicosis can be decreased by ruling out subjects over 50 years old, with nodular goiters or with blunted response of TSH to TRH stimulation.

Goiter↗

[Erdheim-Chester disease. The multiviceral form presenting as exophthalmos].

Erdheim-Chester disease is a rare visceral xantho-granulomatosis, the 17th case of which is reported here. The initial symptom, bilateral exophthalmos, was uncommon. The picture was completed by a retroperitoneal xanthogranuloma and by bilateral and symmetrical osteosclerosis of the long bones. The lack of X-bodies at electron microscopy differentiated the disease from Hand-Schüller-Christian disease. The patient's condition improved with chemotherapy (vinblastine and doxorubicin) combined with corticosteroid therapy. After a 5-month remission period, he died of an intercurrent infection. No autopsy was performed.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

Gonadotropin responses to low dose pulsatile administration of GnRH in a case of anosmia with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism associated with gonadal dysgenesis 47 XXY.

A 25 year old man presented hypogonadotropic hypogonadism with complete anosmia (Kallman's syndrome). His chromosomic type was 47 XXY (Klinefelter's syndrome). Clinical findings were: height 183 cm, weight 62 kg, increased length of lower limbs, P2-A2 pilosity and micropenis. Only a left testis was present (1.5-1.5 cm). Bone age was 15. Testicular biopsy showed that the signs were more related to the gonadotropic deficit than to the gonadal dysgenesis; tubular hyalinization was not observed. Plasma levels of testosterone and oestradiol were very low. Plasma gonadotropin levels were below normal ranges and did not respond to an infusion test of GnRH. GnRH was administered iv every 90 min for 3 weeks by an auto syringe infusion pump and induced a pulsatile response of FSH and LH. Plasma levels of testosterone and oestradiol were unaffected. It may be concluded that the results of pulsatile injection of GnRH confirmed in this patient a unique association of Kallmann's syndrome with complete 47 XXY Klinefelter's syndrome.

Adult↗

[Insulinoma: diagnostic elements. 13 cases].

The mean age of the 13 patients studied (9 women, 7 men) was 50.5 +/- 15.7 years. The disease was discovered on account of malaise (3 cases), behavioural disorders (4 cases), coma (3 cases), syncope (1 case) or right hemiparesis (1 case) or in the course of systematic examination (1 case). Eleven patients consulted for evaluation of hypoglycaemia and 2 for behavioural disorders. The history was characteristic, with malaise, loss of consciousness, severe neurological disorders (seizures, hemiparesis, hemiplegia or coma) and psychiatric disorders. These symptoms typically occurred in the morning before breakfast or between meals in 9 patients, and atypically at any point of time or after meals in 4 patients. Their hypoglycaemic nature was demonstrated by blood glucose determination in 11/13 cases and by response to ingestion of sugar in 12/13 cases. The mean period elapsed between the initial symptoms and the final diagnosis was 20.3 +/- 17.3 months. Inappropriate insulin secretion was elicited a.m. before breakfast, during Conn's diet or fasting test, or by calculating the blood insulin/glucose ratio or Turner's coefficient. Prior to surgery, the insulinoma was located by ultrasonography in 3/8 cases, by computerized tomography in 2/6 cases, by selective arteriography in 6/11 cases, and by phlebography with spleno-portal catheterization and staged sampling for insulin and C-peptide assays in 8/9 cases. Histological examination after surgery (11 cases) or necropsy (1 case) showed an adenoma without evidence of malignancy.

Adenoma, Islet Cell↗

Effects of thyrotrophin-releasing hormone on plasma catecholamine levels in acromegalics.

Plasma catecholamines assayed by a double isotope radio enzymatic method were studied in the basal state and during a thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH)-test in 7 acromegalics, divided into 2 groups: active and non-active acromegalics, according to clinical and biological criteria. Basal plasma norepinephrine levels were significantly increased in the active group 648 +/- 22 pg/ml (P less than 0.001) and were in the normal range in the non-active group 439 +/- 26 pg/ml. Basal plasma epinephrine values were not significantly different in the 2 groups 59 +/- 15 pg/ml vs 34 +/- 7 pg/ml. During a TRH-test, norepinephrine levels remained elevated (P less than 0.001) in the active group, and the difference between the 2 groups was enhanced during the test. On the other hand the 2 patients who responded to TRH demonstrated an increase of norepinephrine levels. Our results suggest that TRH may stimulate norepinephrine release in acromegalics with an active response to TRH.

Acromegaly↗

[Current aspect of Sheehan's syndrome. 20 cases].

The 20 women investigated were 22 to 59 years old (average 35.9 +/- 2.3 years) when the diagnosis of Sheehan's syndrome was confirmed. Fourteen had had previous pregnancies, 6 were primiparas; average parity was 4. The patients were delivered in hospital, in France, in 14 cases, and abroad (Algeria, Portugal) at home in 6 cases. A history of severe haemorrhage during delivery was recorded in all but 2 cases. This was serious enough to warrant hysterectomy in 2 cases. Agalactia and amenorrhea were observed in all but 1 case in the immediate post-partum period. Transient polyuria and polydipsia occurred in 3 patients. In the months following birth, most women lead restricted lives; they were apathetic, asthenic and indifferent. The diagnosis was established under three different circumstances: in the majority (15/20) on clinical grounds, in 3 cases after acute adrenal failure, in 2 cases, fortuitously. Clinical examination showed signs of global anterior hypophyseal insufficiency involving thyroid, adrenal and gonad stimulating hormones in 14 cases; in 6 cases, the pituitary failure was dissociated. Corticotrophin, somatotropin and prolactin deficiencies were observed in all patients; gonadotrophin (17/20) and thyrotrophin (16/20) deficiencies were common. The diagnosis was confirmed less than 1 month (2 cases) to over 12 years (7 cases) after obstetric haemorrhage (average 6.9 +/- 1.9 years). No correlation was observed between the severity of the syndrome and this time interval. The short term outcome was favourable with return of menstruation and even pregnancy in one patient.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

[Parathyroid adenoma disclosed by a cold nodule on thyroid scintigraphy. 2 cases].

Two unusual cases of parathyroid adenoma were diagnosed in different circumstances. In the first case, pathological examination of a thyroid lobectomy specimen disclosed a large parathyroid adenoma. In the second case, the association of clinical and biological manifestations of hyperparathyroidism with a "cold" nodule of the right lobe suggested the diagnosis which was confirmed by surgery and pathological examination. In addition to the classical causes of "cold" thyroid nodules, a large parathyroid adenoma should be considered. Routine investigations for clinical and biological manifestations of such an adenoma are advocated.

Adenoma↗

[Results of surgical treatment of Basedow's disease].

Diffuse hyperthyroidism occurred in 88 patients (82 women and 6 men), aged 14 to 74 years, and was due to Graves disease in 65 cases and heteromultinodular goiter in 23 cases. After medical preparation, the surgical procedure was subtotal thyroidectomy for Graves disease and total unilateral with partial controlateral lobectomy for heteromultinodular goiter. The immediate postoperative course was uneventful except for two transient acute episodes of thyrotoxicosis. One to eight years after surgery, 53 patients are euthyroid, 34 are hypothyroid and one has recurrent hyperthyroidism. A TRH test was done in each of the 53 euthyroid patients. Three kinds of responses were demonstrated: a normal response in 22 cases, evidencing true euthyroidism; an excessive response in 24 cases, reflecting partial compensated hypothyroidism; an insufficient response in 7 cases.

Adolescent↗