Biomedical subjects

Y Maugars

Publications and source records attributed to Y Maugars.

77 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Pancytopenia and severe cytopenia induced by low-dose methotrexate. Eight case-reports and a review of one hundred cases from the literature (with twenty-four deaths)

Severe adverse effects of low-dose methotrexate (less than 20 mg per week) are believed to be rare. We report eight cases of severe tricytopenia or pancytopenia seen in two medical departments of the same hospital in patients receiving low-dose methotrexate. Three patients had been under methotrexate for less than one month. Of the six patients with joint disease, five had rheumatoid arthritis and one psoriatic arthritis. A review of the literature found 92 previously reported cases of severe tricytopenia or pancytopenia induced by low-dose methotrexate. Of the total of 100 cases, 24 were fatal and 25 occurred within one month of treatment initiation. Potential risk factors were identifiable retrospectively in at least 50% of cases but were not all predictable or present at treatment initiation. In 30% of cases, no explanation for the hematologic complication was found, and in an additional 20% missing data precluded definite conclusions. The role of the risk factors incriminated in the literature is discussed. Although infrequent, cytopenia is a severe complication of methotrexate therapy that warrants a number of precautions, including periodic creatinine clearance and serum albumin determinations. Furthermore, the weekly dosing schedule should be printed on methotrexate boxes.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Osteitis condensans of the clavicle: does fibrocartilage play a role? A report of two cases with spontaneous clinical and roentgenographic resolution.

Two cases of osteitis condensans of the medial clavicle with an unusual course toward spontaneous resolution of clinical and roentgenographic manifestations are reported. The relevant literature is reviewed. A pathogenic hypothesis for condensing osteitis of the clavicle, ilium, and pubis is suggested. At all these sites, the sclerosis occurs in bone overlaid by fibrocartilage. In contrast, joint aspects spared by the sclerosis are covered with hyaline cartilage. We report data documenting this fact at the sternoclavicular joint.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Impact of using stored cells for immunofluorescence detection of antiperinuclear factor on sensitivity of the method for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.

Antiperinuclear factor is as sensitive as (0.75 to 0.80) and more specific than (0.94 to 0.97) rheumatoid factor for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. Although three groups found similar performance characteristics using the assay technique described by Youinou, lower sensitivities have also been reported. To clarify these discrepancies, we investigated each parameter of the assay, including storage time of the oral mucosa cells used as the substrate. Even when the slides were frozen, titers fell by one dilution within the first week and by two dilutions within two weeks after sampling. This decline seemed related to storage rather than to freezing: slides kept at 4 degrees C yielded an apparent three-dilution fall in titers after one week and were unevaluable after longer storage times. Successive freeze-thaw cycles did not influence results when the assay was done on the day the cells were sampled and fixed. Titers in sera stored at -25 degrees C remained unchanged or decreased by no more than one dilution during the first 18 months but declined thereafter. These data emphasize the need for performing the assay on the same day or, at the latest, on the day after fixation of the slides. That this precaution was taken should be specified in the "Methods" section of articles on antiperinuclear factor detection.

Antibodies, Antinuclear↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Treatment with low dose methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis: risk factors for severe complications].

Treatment with low dose methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis is associated with serious side effects in about 5 per cent of cases (respiratory, haematological or infectious). The goal of a null risk seems unrealistic because of the idiosyncrasy of some of the risks and our poor understanding of others (enzymatic polymorphisms might be operational, and infectious agents could act as co-factors). However, risk can be greatly reduced by a careful selection of patients. Some contraindications are strict: poor compliance and the possibility of mistake in the timing of the administration; pregnancy or desire for pregnancy; treatment with trimetoprim; haemodialysis; renal insufficiency (clearance < or = 50 ml/min) (and therefore old age), alcoholism. Others remain relative although well established; hypoalbuminaemia, diabetes mellitus, obesity, past infection with hepatitis virus. Others are dubious: starvation, macrocytosis, surgical stress, NSAIDs. An extensive large study of side effects is warranted.

Antirheumatic Agents↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Algodystrophy (reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome) and causalgia: novel concepts regarding the nosology, pathophysiology, and pathogenesis of complex regional pain syndromes. Is the sympathetic hyperactivity hypothesis wrong?

Concepts regarding the nosology, pathophysiology and pathogenesis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome are currently in a state of flux. Causalgia and reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome are now generally felt to be on the same continuum and as a result interest for defining criteria for the latter condition has waned. The pathogenic role of adrenergic sympathetic activity has been so successfully challenged that the last international consensus conference judged inappropriate any reference to the sympathetic system in the terms used to designate these conditions, thus confirming the position long defended by most French authors. The vasomotor abnormalities may be due to antidromic release of neuromediators by the endings of polymodal C fibers. These fibers do not belong to the sympathetic system but often travel with sympathetic nerves, a characteristic that may explain the efficacy of sympathetic nerve blocks, although other possibilities exist including a placebo effect. Also, efferent sympathetic fibers may undergo activation by nonadrenergic mediators. The mechanisms capable of initiating and perseverating activation of polymodal C afferents are being actively investigated and have been found to exhibit similarities with the mechanisms underlying peripheral and central sensitization of pain-producing afferents. Growth factors, such as nerve growth factor, may play an important role in causalgia. In "reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome", microcirculatory stasis may contribute to the initiation or perpetuatation of the disorders. Further work on the nerve supply to the venular network and on the venoarterial reflex is needed.

Causalgia↗