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R Azar

Publications and source records attributed to R Azar.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

[Nephrotic syndrome complicating treatment with interferon alpha].

UNLABELLED: We report two cases of nephrotic syndrome with minimal glomerular change complicating alpha-interferon therapy. CASE REPORTS: The first patient was a 60-year-old man with Waldenström's disease who was given 1 million units of alpha-interferon three times a week for 22 months. Acute renal failure developed when a second protocol was started. Renal biopsy revealed intraglomerular deposits and no cellular proliferation. Total remission could not be achieved with corticosteroids. The second case was a 46-year-old man given high dose alpha-interferon (15 million units 3 times a week) for lymph node metastasis of a malignant melanoma. A nephrotic syndrome without renal failure developed during the third month of treatment. Minimal glomerular involvement was seen. Symptomatic treatment led to resolution of the nephrotic syndrome. DISCUSSION: Nine other cases of nephrotic syndrome complicating alpha-interferon therapy have been reported in the literature.

Acute Kidney Injury↗
PubMed1996

[Acute interstitial nephropathy induced by vancomycin].

The authors report a case of tubulo-interstitial nephritis with acute renal failure due to vancomycin used to treat a patient with enterococcus endocarditis. Rechallenge with vancomycin several days after stopping the drug resulted in the appearance of a maculopapular rash and rapid onset of acute oligo-anuric renal failure. Renal biopsy revealed acute interstitial nephritis. This feature is suggestive of cellular mediated hypersensitivity.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1995

Application of ELISA for IgM, IgA and antigen detection for rapid diagnosis of respiratory syncytial virus infections: a comparative study.

BACKGROUND: Infection with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) can be rapidly diagnosed by detection of viral antigen in nasopharyngeal secretions (NPS) or serologically by detecting IgM and IgA antibodies. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the above methods for reliability and rapidity, and compare them with the complement fixation (CF) test and virus isolation. STUDY DESIGN: Viral antigen was tested in 145 NPS samples by ELISA in parallel with tissue culture isolation. The geometric mean titer (GMT) of complement fixing antibodies in various age groups was determined from 92 individual serum samples by CF test. The diagnostic methods, CF test, ELISA-IgM and ELISA-IgA, were evaluated using 21 pairs of acute and convalescent sera. Appearance of IgM and IgA in serum samples with low or negative CF titers was studied in two age groups: 0-10 months (n = 82), and 11 months-9 years (n = 47). RESULTS: From the 145 NPS samples, 20 samples were positive by both ELISA and virus isolation, 9 were positive only by ELISA and 5 were positive only by virus isolation. The GMT by age group for 92 sera evaluated by CF test were 40 (0-10 months), 195 (11-24 months), 269 (2-4 years), 173 (5-12 years) and 132 (adults). Among the 21 paired sera examined, CF test detected 13 RSV infections by antibody rise or seroconversion while the ELISA-IgM/IgA tests identified all 21 infections, 7 of them in the first sample. The presence of IgM alone or IgM and IgA antibodies was demonstrated in both age groups examined; however, IgA alone was found only in the age group 11 months and older. CONCLUSIONS: ELISA for antigen detection is better than virus isolation because it is faster (6-20 h vs. 3-20 days, respectively) and more sensitive (29/34 vs. 25/34 positives, respectively). ELISA-IgM and ELISA-IgA was more sensitive and reliable than the CF test, particularly for the 0-10 month age group. Thus, when necessary, serological diagnosis of RSV infection can be based on the presence of IgM and/or IgA antibodies in serum samples obtained early after onset of symptoms.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

Adenovirus type 8 conjunctivitis outbreak in a neonatal intensive care unit.

An outbreak of adenovirus type 8 conjunctivitis occurred in seven premature infants who had undergone ophthalmological examination four to seven days previously. Three of the affected infants, treated with steroids because of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, showed systemic manifestations and deterioration of their respiratory disease. Second and third waves affected nine staff and 12 family members.

Adenovirus Infections, Human↗
PubMed1989

Effects of fish oil rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids on hyperlipidemia of hemodialysis patients.

Hemodialysis (HD) patients have a high incidence of hyperlipidemia. Hypertriglyceridemia is the most frequent abnormality encountered. It results mainly from a defect in the degradation of triglycerides. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a fish oil (Max-EPA) rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), such as eicosapantenoic acid (EPA), on lipid abnormalities of hemodialysis patients. Thirteen hyperlipidemic HD patients were investigated (7 males, 6 females; mean age 57 years; mean duration of HD 72 months). None were diabetic or treated with antihypertensive drugs. All patients had hypertriglyceridemia (greater than 200 mg/dl) and an increase (greater than 1) in the ratio of serum apolipoprotein B to serum apolipoprotein A1 (ApoB/ApoA1). They received for one month, 6 g/day of Max-EPA providing 1 g of EPA. After treatment, serum triglyceride levels fell by 38% from 231 +/- 40 (SD) mg/dl to 140 +/- 38 mg/dl (P less than 0.01). Total cholesterol did not change significantly (before therapy 241 +/- 33 mg/dl, after therapy 249 +/- 38 mg/dl). Apolipoprotein A1 levels (116 +/- 17 mg/dl) were not modified after therapy, 117 +/- 11 mg/dl. Apolipoprotein B decreased significantly from 182 +/- 26 mg/dl to 150 +/- 21 mg/dl after treatment (P less than 0.01). The ApoB/ApoA1 ratio showed a significant decrease from 1.56 +/- 0.26 to 1.3 +/- 0.16 after therapy (P less than 0.01). Also, the greatest reductions were found in the patients who had both the highest serum triglyceride levels and the highest ApoB/ApoA1 ratios. No side effects were observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Plasma fibronectin: a marker of arterial hypertension in pregnancy?].

In a study of 40 pregnant women, Lazarchick and al. Have found that plasma fibronectin concentrations are abnormally elevated in normotensive pregnant women destined to become preeclamptic. We tried to confirm this fact in a larger study with intent to establish a predictive value of fibronectin rise as a sensitive indicator for preeclampsia. 285 pregnant women were included in our study: plasma fibronectin and uric acid were both measured between 14 and 39 weeks. Blood pressure and urinary protein were assessed monthly. 35 patients (12%) became hypertensive. Plasma fibronectin level was significantly higher (greater than 0.4 g/l) in the hypertensive gravid women group (chi 2 test: p less than 0.001; good specificity: 90%, bad sensitivity: 31%). There was a relationship between plasma fibronectin (greater than 0.4 g/l) and uric acid rise (greater than 50 mg/l) (chi 2 test: p less than 0.01). We did not find a relationship between fibronectin level and fetal weight. In conclusion, plasma fibronectin level is higher in hypertensive pregnant women but the absolute value is not statistically significant. It looks like a bad screening test, but it is a very specific test. It does not give information about fetal prognosis. It would be interesting to carry out another study in a larger population with repeated samplings to prove or reject the greater predictive value of fibronectin and its concentration as a sensitive indicator for preeclampsia.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed1982

[Personal experience and considerations on duodenal erosions].

Twenty five hundred esophagogastroduodenoscopies were examined, separating all the duodenal erosions' cases. The most important conclusions refer to two facts in relations to the existence of duodenal erosions (DE) with respect to duodenal erosions when coexisting with gastric erosions (gastroduodenal erosions-GDE). In the duodenal erosions symptomatology dominated frankly, mainly ulcerous syndrome, typical or atypical (P less than 0,01). The GDE had a clear predominancy of bleeding referring to DE (P less than 0,01), suggesting that the DE are to be considered a nosologic entity different as the GDE. The ulcerogenious antecedents (drugs, stress, alcohol, etc.) were frankly positive in both cases when there was bleeding, but of low percentage in the cases without bleeding, suggesting that its presence is important in the causing of bleeding but not in the generating erosions in itself.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Acidosis and nutritional status in hemodialyzed patients. French Study Group for Nutrition in Dialysis.

In a cross-sectional study of more than 30% of French dialysis patients (N = 7,123), we evaluated the relationships between predialysis plasma bicarbonate concentration and nutritional markers. Data including age, gender, cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), time on dialysis, body mass index (BMI), blood levels of midweek predialysis albumin, prealbumin, and bicarbonate were collected. Normalized protein catabolic rate (nPCR), dialysis adequacy parameters, and estimation of lean body mass (LBM) were computed from pre- and postbicarbonate-dialysis urea and creatinine levels according to the classical formulas of Garred. Average values (+/- 1 SD) were age 61 +/- 16 years, BMI 23.3 +/- 4.6 kg/m2, dialysis time 12.4 +/- 2.7 h/week, HCO3 22.8 +/- 3.5 mmol/L, albumin 38.7 +/- 5.3 g/L, prealbumin 340 +/- 90 mg/L, Kt/V 1.36 +/- 0.36, nPCR 1.13 +/- 0.32 g/kg BW/day, and LBM 0.86 +/- 0.21% of ideal LBM. A highly significant negative correlation was observed between predialysis bicarbonate levels (within a range of 16-30 mmol/L, 95% of this population) and nPCR confirmed by analysis of variance using bicarbonate classes (p < 0.0001). Bicarbonate was also negatively correlated with albumin, prealbumin, BMI, and LBM. No relationship was noted between bicarbonate and Kt/V despite a positive correlation between Kt/V and nPCR. It is likely that a persistent acidosis observed despite standard bicarbonate dialysis was caused by a high dietary protein intake which results in an increased acid load, but also overcomes the usual catabolic effects of acidosis.

Acidosis↗