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Biomedical subjects

J Snoeck

Publications and source records attributed to J Snoeck.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Cardiac involvement in juvenile ceroid lipofuscinosis of the Spielmeyer-Vogt-Sjögren type: prospective noninvasive findings in two siblings.

The results of prospective noninvasive cardiologic investigations, including echocardiography and Holter monitoring are described in 2 siblings with juvenile ceroid lipofuscinosis of the Spielmeyer-Vogt-Sjögren type. In the elder patient, echocardiography revealed ventricular hypertrophy with slowed ventricular relaxation. Holter monitoring showed not only bradycardia but also slow and fast ectopic atrial rhythms, sinus arrests and complex ventricular ectopic activity including ventricular tachycardia. In the younger patient the findings were less severe. These functional disturbances due to cardiac involvement, never reported before in this disease, are discussed.

Adult↗

Indications for coronary arteriography after myocardial infarction.

The prognosis of patients after an acute myocardial infarction depends on the extent of the myocardial damage, its resulting left ventricular dysfunction and on the number and degree of narrowing of diseased coronary arteries. Patients with a severe multivessel disease constitute a high-risk group with an important morbidity and mortality during the first few months after hospitalization for a myocardial infarction. They could benefit from early revascularization therapy, whether by coronary artery bypass surgery, whether by percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Although early coronary revascularization is still controversial, management of patients after a myocardial infarction certainly will improve from a more accurate risk profiling by a careful diagnostic evaluation--including coronary arteriography in some subsets of patients--during the in-hospital period.

Coronary Angiography↗

Adult Still's disease caused by Yersinia enterocolitica infection.

Clinical and biologic features of adult Still's disease developed in a patient who had high antibody titers against Yersinia enterocolitica during his illness. Immunocomplexes containing antibodies against Yersinia antigens were isolated at the beginning of the disease. Yersinia was not isolated from blood or stool specimens probably because we observed the patient during the secondary phase of the disease.

Adult↗

Cardiac manifestations of Becker-type muscular dystrophy.

The electro-, phonomechano- and echocardiographic manifestations observed in a family with documented X-linked Becker-type muscular dystrophy (BMD) are described. Important myocardial dystrophic lesions may occur in young patients with BMD. They are associated with typical electrocardiological findings which were described as a distinctive pattern in Duchenne-type muscular dystrophy. Myocardial involvement is seldom observed in heterozygotes for BMD.

Adult↗

Myopotential inhibition of unipolar ventricular inhibited pacemakers: prevention by an insulating sheath.

To determine the occurrence of inhibition of pacing by sensing of myopotentials, forty-five patients with predominant pacemaker driven heart rhythm were studied. In eleven patients with a bipolar lead system myopotential inhibition was never observed. In the remaining group (34 patients) with unipolar pacemakers myopotential inhibition was demonstrated in fifteen patients. Three of them were symptomatic, two severely. In forty new implants a silicone-rubber insulating sheath was placed against the muscular side of the pacemaker. In none of these patients myopotential inhibition could be demonstrated. The authors conclude that myopotential inhibition occurs frequently in unipolar ventricular inhibited pacemakers, and can be prevented by insulating the muscular side of the anodal surface.

Electric Conductivity↗

Comparison of guanabenz and clonidine in hypertensive patients.

The antihypertensive and clinical effects of two centrally acting drugs, guanabenz and clonidine, were compared in a double-blind trial in 29 patients with established hypertension. After a 1-week baseline period and 2 weeks on placebo, patients received treatment with either guanabenz (mean dose 24 mg daily) or clonidine (mean dose 0.45 mg daily) alone for 8 weeks. Both drugs produced equivalent and highly significant (p < 0.001) reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressures in the standing and supine positions. They also reduced significantly the standing and supine pulse rates. Normal orthostatic responses were maintained with both regimens. All but 1 patient in each group reported side-effects during active treatment, the most frequent being dry mouth and sedation with each drug. No laboratory or ECG abnormalities related to treatment were observed.

Adult↗

Review of the use of digitalis glycosides in ventricular dysrhythmia.

The present publication reviews actual knowledge of the electrophysiological properties of low doses of digitalis in perspective of its use in patients with ventricular dysrhythmia. Both animal experiments and observations in humans have demonstrated that increased adrenergic and decreased cholinergic tone predispose to ventricular arrhythmia. An increased cholinergic tone on the other hand has been shown to protect against increased ventricular vulnerability, especially in situations of increased adrenergic tone. Therefore the combination of the cholinergic and anti-adrenergic actions of digitalis may help to control situations of increased ventricular vulnerability. This principle is especially attractive because digitalis, in contrast to classical anti-arrhythmics is devoid of any cardiodepressive effects. The clinical experience with digitalis in ventricular dysrhythmia as documented by the group of Lown is discussed in detail. The studies presently available do not yet allow digitalis to be accepted as a drug of first choice in this indication, but its careful use is not longer to be rejected for patients with non-digitalis induced ventricular dysrhythmia.

Arrhythmias, Cardiac↗

Idiopathic orthostatic hypotension and the Shy and Drager syndrome; Physiological studies in four cases; pathological report of one case.

Five cases of idiopathic orthostatic hypotension are presented. Physiological tests were performed in four cases which demonstrated that the lesion in the sympathetic system was most probably situated in the intermediolateral columns in three cases. In one case the lesion was localized on the efferent pathway either at the preganglionic or the postganglionic level. These four patients had also evidence of parasympathetic dysfunction. In the fifth case the clinical diagnosis of Shy and Drager syndrome was confirmed by pathological examination of the nervous system which revealed intermediolateral cell loss and the pathological findings commonly observed in the striato-nigral and olivo-ponto-cerebellar degenerations.

Aged↗

Comparison of Frank's and McFee's lead systems using multivariate statistics.

Two widely used orthogonal corrected 3-lead system - the Frank and the McFee systems - were studied in order to evaluate whether a significant difference in diagnostic performance could be observed; in the case of a positive answer, we would be able to advocate one system instead of the other. No such overall difference was noticed. Although +/- 17% discrepancies were found on the individual classification level (a patient correctly classified with system A and missed with system B and conversely), the practical implication is negligible since each system is responsible for +/- half of these discrepancies. Multivariate analysis, as already largely proved by Pipberger's group, drastically ameliorates the diagnostic results. Special caution has been given to the number of selected discriminators in order to enhance repeatability of the results; the reproducibility, using the approach developed by Cornfield, was found excellent. Some particular features as to the choice and location of the best discriminators were found somewhat puzzling by the autors but no deterministic explanation could be offered: the selection of the variables, indeed, rested on statistical bases and not on the (sometimes fragmentary) knowledge of what is going on in the heart and how these events relate to surface waveform patterns.

Adult↗