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Biomedical subjects

A Brezin

Publications and source records attributed to A Brezin.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Usefulness of immunoblotting and Goldmann-Witmer coefficient for biological diagnosis of toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis.

Toxoplasmosis is a frequent cause of retinochoroiditis. Although the diagnosis relies mainly on ophthalmological examination, biological approaches are particularly useful in patients with atypical lesions. In a prospective study to determine the value of immunoblotting and immune load calculation in the diagnosis of active toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis, aqueous humor samples from 21 patients with retinochoroiditis and 5 control patients with cataracts were tested. Immune load was calculated on the basis of intraocular antibody production. The immune load ratio between aqueous humor and serum (Goldmann-Witmer coefficient) was significant (i.e. >2) in 9 of the 17 (53%) patients with retrospectively documented toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis. Immunoblotting suggested local antibody production in 10 of 17 (59%) patients. The combination of the two techniques gave a sensitivity of 71% (12/17). Both techniques were negative in the four patients in whom the final diagnosis of toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis was negative and in the five patients with cataracts. These results confirm the value of combining these two techniques. Moreover, immunoblotting has the advantages of being easy to perform and of requiring a very small sample.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

[Value of MRI for the diagnosis of cardiac involvement in sarcoidosis].

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to assess the place of cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in patients with sarcoidosis with or without cardiac involvement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty patients with histologically-proven sarcoidosis underwent initial cardiac evaluation including MRI, ECG, holter ECG, echocardiography. Seven of them had cardiac involvement (cardiac insufficiency, auriculo-ventricular block, bundle-branch block). Fiveteen patients had a second evaluation at 10-month follow-up. MRI was classified in three stages, on the base of literature data (stage 1 "granulomatous", stage 2 "exsudative", stage 3 "fibrotic"). RESULTS: A good correlation between the type of the sarcoidosis and MRI was observed: patients with cardiac involvement had all stage 2 MRI; patients with quiescent sarcoidosis had normal or stage 3 MRI; patients without cardiac involvement had all stages on MRI. A good correlation was observed between cardiac MRI abnormalities and evolution of sarcoidosis. Patients under corticoid, with or without cardiac involvement all had regression of MRI lesions and sarcoidosis. In 2 cases, MRI was predictive of clinical cardiac involvement. CONCLUSION: Cardiac MRI is a useful non-invasive method for the early diagnosis and follow-up of cardiac sarcoidosis.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed2003

[Optic disk drusen: what are the advantages of the new imaging techniques?].

This study reports four clinical cases of papillary drusen associated with OHT. The authors show the advantages of HRT, OCT2, and GDx for exploring the optic nerve and/or the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL). The repercussions of drusen on the optic nerve head may precede visual field failure. Better knowledge of the interpretation of these new imaging techniques may help define the respective roles of drusen and OHT, in case of visual field attack, and treatment modalities. These new procedures may help us to monitor drusen and their progression potential.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

[Mediastinoscopy in the case of recurrent uveitis].

INTRODUCTION: The authors report the case of a patient who presented for 4 years recurrent anterior uveitis accompanied by asymptomatic tuberculous mediastinal lymphadenitis. EXEGESIS: CT scan of the chest showed the existence of mediastinal lymphadenopathy (< 1 cm). Mediastinoscopy with biopsy of the right laterotracheal lymph node was performed. The culture was positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, thus permitting the diagnosis of tuberculosis. CONCLUSION: This case report stresses the advantage of extensive etiological assessment when faced with unexplained uveitis; particularly it emphasizes the importance of investigating potential tuberculosis. The existence of granulomatous uveitis, a positive skin test, the ethnic origin, and mostly results of chest CT scan, were the rationale for the use of mediastinoscopy with lymph node biopsy to help guide diagnosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Cotton-wool spots and AIDS related complex.

Twenty-nine patients with the AIDS Related Complex (ARC) were studied retrospectively. Cotton-wool spots (CWSs) were the main ophthalmological finding, present in 9 patients (31%) at this stage of the disease. The CWSs were asymptomatic and were therefore discovered during a routine examination. The proportion of patients with significant weight loss was greater among ARC patients with CWSs than among those with normal fundi. Leukocyte counts were found to be significantly lower (p = 0.03, odds ratio 10.0 [1.24 to 80.4]) among ARC patients with CWSs. Lymphocyte counts and the CD4/CD8 ratio were also found to be diminished in these patients. Among the nine patients with CWSs during ARC, seven developed major opportunistic infections or HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) related neoplasias during the following months (3.8 +/- 3.5 months). These findings are consistent with a poorer prognosis for HIV infected patients who have CWSs.

AIDS-Related Complex↗
PubMed1989

Retinal and choroidal ischemic syndrome, digestive tract and renal small vessel hyalinosis, intracerebral calcifications and phenotypic abnormalities: a new family syndrome.

A new family syndrome is described that affected three of seven siblings and another patient who had been abandoned at birth but came from the same area of France. All four patients were young women with a very peculiar phenotype, poikiloderma and greying of the hair, and idiopathic non-arteriosclerotic cerebral calcifications. Pathological studies demonstrated small-vessel hyalinosis due to basal membrane thickening, mainly in the digestive tract, kidneys and calcified areas of the brain. The clinical and biological expressions of these vascular changes varied. Peripheral retinal ischemic syndrome and chorioretinal scars were found in the ocular fundi of three patients. Malabsorption and protein-losing enteropathy was the main problem in all four, and was the cause of one patient's death. A subarachnoid hemorrhage due to a right sylvian aneurysm also occurred in two of the three sisters and was lethal for one. Nephropathy with renal failure and systemic hypertension is the major problem of the two surviving patients.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1989

[Vitreous hemorrhage and neovascular proliferation in multiple sclerosis].

We report the case of a 40 year-old man with multiple sclerosis, who presented a bilateral proliferative retinopathy responsible for a vitreous hemorrhage. Examination of the periphery of the retina showed diffuse retinal periphlebitis; fluorescein angiograms showed a peripheral retinal ischemic syndrome with secondary neovascularization. Several recent studies have show that retinal periphlebitis is a frequent finding in multiple sclerosis; but to our knowledge a retinal ischemic syndrome with neovascularization has seldom been reported.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Diffuse retinoblastoma--apropos of a case].

We report a case of diffuse retinoblastoma in a 6 years old boy. The diagnosis should be suspected in front of the very evocative clinical picture itself. The aspect of the tyndall phenomenon, and of the convex pseudo-hypopyon, with iris pearls and nodules, together with a peripheral, imprecisely limited, retinal mass, non calcified on ultrasonographic examination, are typical. Aqueous paracentesis shows increased levels of Lactic Dehydrogenase (LDH), but most of all the cytologic examination confirms the diagnosis. The only treatment is enucleation. The clinical picture which may simulate uveitis, especially as this particular type of retinoblastoma has a late onset.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Atypical tapetoretinal degeneration simulating a neurologic syndrome].

We report the case of a 57-year-old woman with progressive bilateral visual acuity loss, presumed during ten years to be secondary to a neurological disease. Ophthalmological examination showed for both eyes pallor of the optic discs and arteriolar narrowing. Periphery was normal, without pigment clumping. Fluorescein angiography showed a widespread irregular hypopigmentation and discovered a bilateral macular edema. Abnormal rod function was confirmed by electroretinography. A review of the literature data shows the variety of clinical symptoms in patients with retinitis pigmentosa and the frequency of atypical non-pigmented forms. Those forms are usually considered as early stages of the disease. Besides, macular lesions, and macular edema in particular, are frequently reported.

Diagnosis, Differential↗