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Biomedical subjects

M Ferry

Publications and source records attributed to M Ferry.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Nutritional status: blood vitamins A, E, B6, B12, folic acid and carotene. Euronut SENECA investigators.

This chapter describes the vitamin plasma concentration data collection, preliminary analysis and results of the Euronut SENECA study. Blood plasma was collected from approximately 2500 elderly subjects born in 1913-1918 living in 17 small towns in 11 European countries, and the plasma levels of carotene, retinol, alpha-tocopherol, vitamin B12, folic acid and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate were determined. There were very large within- and between-centre differences in vitamin levels with no definite geographical pattern emerging. The vitamin status for retinol and folic acid was adequate in all centres. The prevalence of biochemical vitamin B6 deficiency was widespread and reached over 50% in some centres. Vitamin B12 biochemical deficiency was limited to ten centres and its prevalence was 1.6%-10%. Vitamin E biochemical deficiency was found in seven centres and varied from 0.5% to 25%.

Aged↗

[Value of echocardiography in aged patients with presumed idiopathic auricular fibrillation].

Thirty seven patients (mean age = 80.2 years with extremes from 66 to 98 years), presenting atrial fibrillation (AF), presumably idiopathic (non known heart disease, completely normal cardiac auscultation, good quality chest X-ray and electrocardiogram, no laboratory test anomaly), and paroxystic (n = 7: 19 p. cent) or permanent (n = 30: 81 p. cent), were given an electrocardiogram TM and bidimensional. In only 9 of them (24.3 p. cent), this examination is completely normal. Three other patients (8.1 p. cent) present an isolated dilatation of the left atrium. The 25 remaining patients present various cardiopericardic anomalies: valvular pathologies (n = 2: 59.4 p. cent): mitral (n = 15: 40.5 p. cent) more often than aortic (n = 7: 18.9 p. cent); myocardiopathies (n = 8: 21.6 p. cent), hypertrophic (n = 2), dilated (n = 4) or hypertrophic and dilated (n = 2); moderate pericardial effusion (n = 1: 2.7 p. cent). The mean left and right ventricular diameters, measured in TM mode, are normal as well as the mean contractility indexes (percentage of shortening of the small axis, stroke volume) and the mean filling index (mitral gradient EF) of the LV. Overall, the transverse diameter of the LA is moderately increased (41.9 +/- 9.7 mm); it is not significantly different from the AF, either paroxystic (41.5 +/- 4.9 mm) or permanent (42 +/- 9.93 mm) and whether it is (40.5 +/- 9.9 mm =) or not (42.5 +/- 8.8 mm) complicated by a systemic embolism, especially cerebral. Therefore, the sonocardiogram demonstrates a latent cardiopathy in two-thirds of the patients over 65 presenting a presumably idiopathic AF.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗

[Denutrition of elderly patients].

Undernutrition is common in elderly people being often underestimated and always dangerous, mostly in hospitalized patients. Such symptom is related to a decrease in protein-energy stores with age and due to different physiopathologic major causes, either a decrease in energy intake and/or endogenous denutrition. Diagnosis is always difficult and needs several criteria from food intake, anthropometric and biological measurements. Recent progress have been made in nutritional protein evaluation (albumin, prealbumin) with additional help of inflammatory proteins (AGR and CRP). In spite of the limits of the measurements of each parameter, simultaneous evaluation of such protein profile reduces interpretation mistakes and not only leads to precise diagnosis of denutrition symptom, but also permits a valuable follow-up.

Aged↗

[Bilateral kidney cancer in a patient with Von Hippel-Lindau disease].

A case of bilateral renal carcinoma in a female patient presenting with Von-Hippel-Lindau disease is reported. Many different lesions may be associated in this autosomal dominant disease and the presence of renal involvement must be investigated in every patient. Renal carcinoma, often bilateral, is now frequently treated by conservative methods. It is always necessary to conduct an epidemiological survey in the entire family.

Angiomatosis↗

[Diagnosis of renal, peri- and para-renal infections. Contribution of ultrasonics and x-ray computed tomography. Apropos of 10 cases].

Principal signs and symptoms of renal parenchyma infections are discussed in relation to findings in 10 cases. Disorders studied were acute pyelonephritis and focal and bacterial acute nephritis, renal abscess and perinephritic phlegmon. Intravenous urography was only moderately sensitive (4/7) and of little specificity. Ultrasound imaging showed much greater sensitivity (8/10), undetected lesions being the earliest cases of severe acute pyelonephritis. The scanner was the most sensitive investigatory method since it associated anatomical and functional aspects in data obtained, justifying its initial use for certain authors.

Abscess↗

[Diagnostic contribution of computer tomography in muscular pathology].

CT analysis in 26 patients with well-identified muscle diseases, and 4 normal controls was performed to evaluate its diagnostic interest. Scans were obtained through pelvis, thigh and calves at comparable levels in all subjects. Results showed that elementary changes were devoid of specificity and density measurements did not significantly increase the diagnostic significance of images. A good correlation was found between the degrees of CT changes and clinical evaluation of the muscles. However, CT allowed a more precise study of abnormalities in muscles difficult to assess clinically and, in all pathological cases, led to a clear analysis of the topography and the selectivity of the pathological process. If safety criteria are fulfilled, CT would allow a precise follow-up study of muscle atrophies.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease↗

[X-ray computed tomographic detection of foraminal neurinoma. Apropos of a case].

About the case of the vertebral neurilemmoma diagnosed at the very beginning, purely inside the foramen, precursor of the classical "hourglass Tumor", the authors remain the clinical evolution and the anatomy of the intervertebral foramen's neurilemmoma. They insist on the insufficiency of the conventional radiology in early diagnosis. They also exposed the C.T. technic and his results; the neurilemmoma can be diagnosed before his extension over the limits of the intervertebral foramen, but only if a precis neurological level is known.

Female↗

[Comparative study of computed x-ray tomography and saccoradiculography in the diagnosis of early lumbar disk herniation. Apropos of 50 surgically-proven cases].

Comparison of diagnostic accuracy using the two methods showed scanner imaging to provide superior results, with confirmation of herniated disc in 90 p. 100 cases based on purely discal semiological features. Limitations of the method result from the absence of epidural fat (narrow lumbar canals). A new hierarchy of radiological explorations in resistant lumbosciatica is proposed.

Back Pain↗

[Cerebral and pulmonary histiocytosis X. Neurologic manifestations disclosing a pseudotumoral formation on the floor of the 4th ventricle].

The authors report a case of histiocytosis X which presented with neurological manifestations in a 20 year old man: episodes of headache with vomiting, followed, three months later, by the development of paralysis of the right 6th and 7th cranial nerves associated with nystagmus. The CT scan revealed a tumour-like lesion on the floor of the IVth ventricle with a long axis of 18 mm. The chest x-ray revealed diffuse nodular opacities in the pleural and apical regions with features suggestive of histiocytosis X. The diagnosis was confirmed by surgical biopsy of the typical pulmonary nodules which were rich in histiocytes with X bodies on electron microscopy. The neurological signs disappeared after one month of treatment with Prednisone (1 mg/kg/day) and Vincaleukoblastine (10 mg/week). By the 3rd month, the pulmonary lesions were reduced and the intra-ventricular formation had regressed by 40%. In the authors' series of 29 cases of confirmed histiocytosis X in adults, the present case is the only one with a clinical neurological presentation, apart from 3 cases of diabetes insipidus. A review of the literature confirms the rarity of this type of presentation. The suggestion of the diagnosis by the chest x-ray appearance enabled a dangerous neuro-surgical operation to be avoided.

Abducens Nerve↗

[Auriculo-ventricular block and pregnancy].

20 cases of pregnancy in women with complete atrioventricular block (AVB) (12 patients) or with permanent pacemakers (8 patients) were observed in a French cooperative series and compared with I30 previously reported cases. Most patients were asymptomatic but an increase in the number of syncopes during gestation might be observed : 4 out of 12 in our series. Although AVB remains functionally latent during pregnancy, regular cardio-obstetric follow-up is advised. Hospital admission a few days before the expected date of delivery is desirable, and it is essential that the patients are delivered in department specialised in high risk pregnancies. The need for prophylactic temporary pacing during delivery is not universally accepted. On the other hand, dizziness and syncope are clear cut indications for permanent cardiac pacing ; programmable pacers are excellent choices in young women of childbearing age ; nuclear pulse generators (Pu 238) do not seem to expose the mothers or foetus to serious complications. Rejection of pulse generators during pregnancy is rare. Nearly all mothers with AVB, whether paced or not, now have normal pregnancies resulting in normal viable children. This conduction defect is not therefore an indication for therapeutic abortion.

Adolescent↗