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Biomedical subjects

A Balcells

Publications and source records attributed to A Balcells.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

Prevalence of Sjögren's syndrome in autoimmune diseases.

Investigations were carried out in 122 patients in order to identify features of Sjögren's syndrome (keratoconjunctivitis sicca and xerostomia). There were 78 patients with autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis 21, scleroderma 16, sicca syndrome 16, primary biliary cirrhosis 14, and other autoimmune disorders 11), 11 patients with chronic liver disease other than primary biliary cirrhosis, and 33 patients with a variety of non-autoimmune conditions or no obvious disease. Keratoconjunctivitis sicca was diagnosed by Schirmer's test and rose bengal staining. The oral component was diagnosed by labial biopsy and salivary scintigraphy. Forty nine patients had a definite Sjögren's syndrome, and 77 patients had the syndrome definitely or probably. Definite Sjögren's syndrome occurred in 62% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, in 69% of patients with scleroderma, and in 71% of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. Sjögren's syndrome was not present in any of the patients with non-autoimmune conditions. These results show that in an unselected group of patients with Sjögren's syndrome the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (26%), scleroderma (22%), sicca syndrome (22%), and primary biliary cirrhosis (20%) is similar. Also the occurrence of Sjögren's syndrome in primary biliary cirrhosis is even higher than that in rheumatoid arthritis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Serum beta 2-microglobulin as a marker of activity in systemic lupus erythematosus.

A prospective study of 62 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was performed in order to establish whether serum beta 2m could be a good marker of clinical activity. beta 2m was determined by radio-immunoassay and the values compared with a control group of healthy individuals. The mean value of beta 2m in the control group was 1.48 +/- 0.52 mg/l and 2.87 +/- 2.19 mg/l (p less than 0.001) in the SLE group, 4.53 +/- 2.89 mg/l in the 22 patients with active disease and 2.40 +/- 1.80 mg/l (p less than 0.001) in the 40 patients with inactive disease. High beta 2m values (greater than or equal to 3 mg/l) were observed in 64% of the patients with active SLE, VS. only 12% of the patients with inactive disease (p less than 0.001). Significant differences were also observed when beta 2m of the patients with inactive SLE was compared with the control group (p less than 0.001). The beta 2m with a sensitivity of 64%, a specificity of 87%, and an efficiency of 79% could be a good parameter to detect SLE clinical activity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Neurohormonal responses to antihypertensive treatment with captopril or hydrochlorothiazide.

In order to assess the neurohormonal responses to oral administration of two drugs with different antihypertensive mechanisms, and their implications for long-term efficacy, we studied the changes in plasma renin activity, aldosterone, catecholamines and blood pressure after two cross-over periods of treatment with captopril and hydrochlorothiazide for three months in 14 patients with moderate essential hypertension. Similar levels of plasma renin activity were achieved with both but plasma levels of noradrenaline and aldosterone rose with hydrochlorothiazide (P less than 0.005 and P less than 0.05). Dopamine levels decreased with captopril. Six patients on hydrochlorothiazide had potassium levels under 3.5 mmol/l. Captopril and hydrochlorothiazide were effective in controlling blood pressure in 78% and 50% of the patients respectively, but in cases where noradrenaline was significantly increased after treatment, the effect on diastolic blood pressure was less (P less than 0.05). These data suggest that captopril is highly effective for blood pressure control and that the neurohormonal responses to the drug probably provide additional benefits for long-term therapy in hypertension.

Adult↗