Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate the efficacy and tolerance of present generation mandibular advancement devices in the first intention treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), even when severe, after one year. METHODS: Between June 2006 and December 2007, 152 patients (male: 77%; age: 50.9±10.9 years; BMI: 26.3±3.6 kg/m(2); AHI: 25.5±13.9), without previous treatment, requesting management other than continuous positive pressure and dentally apt for a mandibular advancement device, were pre-included in a prospective one-year multicenter study (13 general hospitals). RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-nine patients were assessed at least once after fitting. The efficacy was noted as of day 90: the overall AHI fell from 24.8 to 10.8 (from 40.6 to 17.7 in the 40 patients with AHI>30) and the Epworth index decreased from 11.2 to 6.9 (12.8 to 8.1 for AHI>30). The AHI reduction was independent of gender, age, BMI and baseline AHI. The efficacy was maintained throughout the study period. Only eight patients withdrew for adverse events and seven for reasons of therapeutic failure. CONCLUSION: Mandibular advancement devices proved effective in first intention, including severe OSAS. No predictive individual efficacy factors emerged.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

INTRODUCTION: The term "neutrophilic dermatosis" is normally used to cover a number of dermatoses characterized by their response to corticotherapy or to drugs effective on the neutrophilic polynuclear. Neutrophilic dermatosis was frequently associated with hematologic disease. We study the case of a neutrophilic dermatosis accompanied by a pulmonary involvement and then review the literature on the reported cases of neutrophilic dermatosis with extra-cutaneous localisations. CASE STUDY: A woman aged 54 displayed a pyoderma gangrenosum successively followed by a pustular dermatosis (related to subcorneal pustular dermatosis of Sneddon-Wilkinson) and by a pulmonary involvement not caused by any underlying infection. The laboratory results revealed a benign IgA gammaglobulin. The use of corticotherapy and a relay by dapsone led to the gradual disappearance of the cutaneous and pulmonary lesions. DISCUSSION: Pulmonary involvement have been observed in the Sweet syndrome and in the pyoderma gangrenosum. The neutrophilic lung is diagnosed once a tumorous or infectious cause has been eliminated and on the basis of the response to the cortisone treatment. CONCLUSION: The link between pulmonary involvement and neutrophilic dermatosis is sometimes mentioned but is in fact often difficult to confirm. The positive reaction to corticosteroids could be a diagnostic test.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

A patient with AIDS developed local complications of BCG vaccination and disseminated chickenpox with severe pneumonia. This cas suggests that AIDS patients should not receive BCG vaccination and that adults with severe chickenpox should be investigated for LAV/HTLV III virus carriage.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Experimentally, during Lewis lung carcinoma (3LL) growth, the red blood cell (RBC) polyamine levels increase with tumor volume and are inversely correlated to tumoral concentrations of spermidine and spermine. The RBC level of spermidine is continually correlated to both the volume and the tumoral concentration of this polyamine. Clinically, high levels of RBC polyamine are observed in cases of squamous-cell carcinoma or anaplastic cancer, and not in cases of adenocarcinoma. RBC polyamine levels only permit the establishment of statistical differences between groups of patients. Therefore, clinical use of these molecules as tumor markers depends on an understanding of polyamine distribution within blood.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Twenty-eight patients showing negative responses against Brucella antigens were included in a preliminary trial of immunotherapy by a live Brucella abortus vaccine. Seventeen patients had squamous cell lung carcinoma, eight had acute myeloid leukemia, and three were classified as "others." Brucella abortus strain 19 BA was administered sc in a single injection at doses ranging from 5 X 10(7) viable organisms to 10(10), ie, 40 times the usual vaccine dose. No important toxicity was noted. Edematous reactions at the injection site and febrile responses were infrequent and moderate, hemocultures were all negative, spleen volume did not vary significantly, and cbc showed an increase of polymorphonuclear cells and lymphocytes.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Gallium-67 (67Ga) scanning was assessed for its usefulness in the evaluation and follow-up of 54 patients with sarcoidosis, both treated and untreated. Scans were repeated in 23 subjects. Serum levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) were determined concurrently in all 54 patients and bronchoalveolar lavage was performed in 29 patients. Gallium-67 scan was effective in the detection and assessment of lesions not revealed by traditional methods of investigation, particularly those affecting the mediastinum, spleen, and salivary glands. The scan also enabled fibrotic lesions, which do not show uptake, to be distinguished from granulomatous lesions, which do--an advantage of prognostic interest particularly in patients with pulmonary lesions. Another merit of 67Ga scanning was that it offered a means of following disease progression in each site. In patients showing spontaneous clearing of disease or receiving treatment the scintigraphic method was more sensitive than serum ACE determination. Scan findings showed a rough correlation with serum ACE but not with bronchoalveolar lavage findings. This suggests that the three markers probably reflect different stages of the granulomatous process. On the strength of this study the indications for gallium scanning in sarcoid patients can be defined more clearly than has previously been possible.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Serum levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) were measured in 111 healthy subjects and in 117 adult patients with mediastinal and pulmonary sarcoidosis. The patients were followed up for 3 years. Detailed clinical investigations and ACE level measurements were performed every three months. The activity of the disease was assessed in 94 patients without treatment and in 23 patients under corticosteroid therapy. Mean ACE levels were significantly higher (p less than 0,0001) in all patients with sarcoidosis than in controls. They were also high (greater than 35 units/ml) in 32 patients with active forms of the disease. In 19 patients with inactive forms ACE levels were either moderately raised on normal, while considerable variations were observed in those with stable, persistent sarcoidosis. Complete spontaneous or therapeutically induced remission were accompanied by a return of ACE to normal values, but this was not the case for incomplete remission. There was no correlation between ACE levels and the radiological stages of the disease. Measuring ACE levels in patients with sarcoidosis may therefore contribute to diagnosis and surveillance and help to distinguish between complete and incomplete remissions.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

The method of chemical assay of angiotensin I-converting enzyme described is a modification of the previously published spectrophotometric assay based on quantitation of hippuric acid released from hippuryl-L-histidyl-L-leucine. The new procedure involves extraction of hippuric acid with ethylacetate, evaporation to dryness of the extract, solubilization of the residue with 1 mol/l NaCl and purification with petroleum ether before measurements of the absorbance at 228 nm of the aqueous phase. Under these conditions, hippuric acid insoluble in petroleum ether remains in the aqueous phase, whereas other A228-absorbing materials, readily soluble in the ether and able to interfere with the assay, are eliminated.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

The authors report a case of severe obliterating laryngo-tracheo-bronchitis without any evident etiology in a young patient with depressed immunity. A herpetic virus was isolated by distal bronchial brushing and by larynx biopsy. The level of specific antibodies rose significantly. These facts together with the clinical history and unsuccessful microbiological searches, suggest the herpetic nature of this affection, albeit exceptional. At this opportunity, a review of the literature is presented showing the imprecision of diagnostic criteria in this field of pathology.

Asunto(s)