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Biomedical subjects

A Constantin

Publications and source records attributed to A Constantin.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder: an open study of 40 cases treated by joint distention during arthrography followed by an intraarticular corticosteroid injection and immediate physical therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the short- and long-term efficacy of joint distention during arthrography followed by an intraarticular corticosteroid injection then by high-intensity physical therapy and use of an abduction splint in an open study of 40 patients with adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder. METHODS: Patients were evaluated on D0, D5 (i.e., before discharge) and D30 for pain severity assessed using a four-point scale (0-3) and for passive ranges of abduction, internal rotation and external rotation of the shoulder. RESULTS: Mean pain severity improved significantly from 2.18 +/- 0.6 (mean +/- SD) on D0 to 1.74 +/- 0.5 on D5 (P: 0.01) and 0.92 +/- 0.5 on D30 (P: 0.02). Passive range of abduction increased significantly from 44.8 degrees +/- 1.54 degrees on D0 to 68 degrees +/- 15 degrees on D5 (P: 0.05), whereas the difference between D5 and D30 (71 degrees +/- 13 degrees) was not significant (P: 0.8). Similarly, passive range of external rotation increased significantly from 4.3 degrees +/- 0.6 degree on D0 to 13.5 degrees +/- 0.5 degree on D5 (P = 0.04) and showed a nonsignificant increase from D5 to D30 (17 degrees +/- 13 degrees, P: 0.2). CONCLUSION: Joint distention during arthrography followed by an intraarticular corticosteroid injection then by high-intensity physical therapy significantly improved pain and passive range of motion within the first five days, and these gains were sustained after one month.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed1998

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in osteonecrosis of the femoral head.

UNLABELLED: Osteonecrosis of the hip classically produces a heterogeneous density in the femoral head, although the bone marrow ischemia extends down to the femoral neck and trochanters. Also, bone insufficiency fractures due to diffuse bone loss have been implicated in the genesis of osteonecrosis. OBJECTIVES: To use dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to quantify the bone changes produced by osteonecrosis of the hip and to compare bone mineral density values in patients with osteonecrosis of the hip and in controls. METHODS: Bone mineral density was measured at the femoral neck (total femoral neck, Ward's triangle, and trochanter), femoral head and lumbar spine using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DPX, L Lunar) in 22 patients with osteonecrosis of the hip and in 22 age- and sex-matched controls. RESULTS: In the patients with osteonecrosis, bone mineral density on the affected side was higher than on the opposite side at the femoral head (+18%), femoral neck (+7%), and Ward's triangle (+6%) and lower at the trochanter (-4%). These differences were most marked at the more advanced end of the osteonecrosis spectrum. As compared to age-specific normative values, the osteonecrosis patients had moderately decreased bone mineral density values at the lumbar spine (-0.53 +/- 1.1 SD or -6 +/- 1.5%) and at the femoral neck on the normal side (-0.9 +/- 1.4 SD or 12 +/- 1.8%). As compared to the controls, bone mineral density was significantly decreased at Ward's triangle (-25%; P: 0.04) and nonsignificantly decreased at the lumbar spine (-4.7%; P: 0.15) and at the femoral neck (-15%; P: 0.09).

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1998

Acute neck pain and fever as the first manifestation of chondrocalcinosis with calcification of the transverse ligament of the atlas. Five case-reports with a literature review.

We report five cases of acute neck pain with fever in patients with diffuse articular chondrocalcinosis and computed tomography evidence of calcification of the transverse ligament of the atlas. A review of the relevant literature illustrated the high frequency of this condition, the variability of clinical presentations ranging from episodes of acute neck pain with fever to compression of the proximal spinal cord, the value of computed tomography for determining the site of the calcific deposits and assessing the lesions, and the possibility of deposition of both calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate and hydroxyapatite crystals in the same patient.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1997

[Does reactive arthritis caused by Brucella exist? Apropos of 4 cases].

OBJECTIVES: Arthritis observed in patients with Brucella infection is usually considered to result from live micro-organisms invading the synovia. We observed four cases of brucellosis in which the clinical and laboratory findings suggested a different mechanism: reactive arthritis. CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS: The diagnosis of brucellosis was made on the basis of serology tests in 3 patients and blood cultures in 1. All 4 patients presented oligoarthritis. The synovial fluid was sterile in 3. Antibiotics were ineffective in reducing joint pain and inflammation whereas local and systemic anti-inflammatory drugs were effective. Three patients also had other manifestations (sausage-shaped toes, talalgia, sacroiliitis) and fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for spondylarthropathy. All patients were positive for antigen HLA-B27. DISCUSSION: These observations suggest that Brucella should be added to the list of intracellular infectious agents capable of inducing reactive arthritis, despite the lack of all the diagnostic criteria. For some, such as the uretritis or diarrhea observed before joint involvement, it would be difficult to implicate the germ. Brucella serology should be part of the etiology work-up for reactive arthritis in endemic areas.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Calcification of the transverse ligament of the atlas in chondrocalcinosis: computed tomography study.

OBJECTIVE: To seek an association between articular chondrocalcinosis (AC) and calcification of the transverse ligament of the atlas (TLA), and to evaluate the frequency and the main computed tomography appearances of such calcification. METHODS: Axial computed tomography slices of the cervico-occipital hinge were performed routinely in 21 patients with AC (three men, 18 women; mean age 79 years, range 67-87) and compared with those from a control group of 21 age and gender matched patients without AC. RESULTS: Calcification of the TLA was present in 14 of the 21 patients (66%) in the AC group and in none of the 21 patients (0%) in the control group (chi 2 test: p < 0.001). Calcification was localised behind the odontoid process, inserted upon the osseous tubercles of the lateral masses of C1, and had a curvilinear profile; it varied in height (1.5 to 9 mm) and appearance (thin = < 1 mm; thick = > 1 mm) and formed either a single or a double band. CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated a relationship between AC and calcification of the TLA. Although such calcification often remains asymptomatic (nine of 14 patients in our study), it may be associated with attacks of acute neck pain with segmentary stiffness, fever, and an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, sometimes revealing AC.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, p-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, and rheumatoid arthritis. Report of a case.

Many rheumatoid arthritis patients have renal dysfunction induced either by the drugs used to treat their joint disease or by the chronic inflammation. A case of rheumatoid arthritis with p-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies and mesangial glomerulonephritis that progressed to type I membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis is reported. The glomerular abnormalities were diagnosed by two renal biopsies done at a one-year interval. Reasons for the first and second renal biopsies were renal dysfunction with hematuria and impure nephrotic syndrome, respectively. Unusual features in this case include the succession of two histologic forms of glomerular disease in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis, the correlation between p-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody titers and activity of the renal disease. In addition, type I membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis is exceedingly rare in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

[Natural history of transmissible subacute spongiform encephalopathy (TSSE)].

Sheep Scrapie is the archetype of ESST It has been described for more than 200 years but the first scientific papers were published less than 60 years ago. The link between doctors and veterinary surgeons enabled our knowledge to develop. First, a Slow Virus was evoked, then Hadlow DVM (USA) suggested using brain filtrates from deceased patients of Kuru in order to inoculate primates or small rodents; this was carried out by the team of D.C. Gajdusek. The complete absence of immune reaction has made the label "slow Virus" give way to "Non Conventional Transmissible Agent" (NCTA). The few human cases of ESST have all been transmitted to mice, rats, hamsters... S.B. Prusiner (San Francisco) has given us an enormous boost with the notion of Prion, a protein molecule derived from an ordinary small membrane protein. Having recourse to transgenic mice has enabled American and European teams to demonstrate the essential role of genetics in the forming of the Transmissible Agent which is certainly Not Conventional. Those responsible for the Health of Cattle in U.K. will not contradict us. Future Research will be fascinating and will open a new chapter in the Medical Science concerning Mammals.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

[Rheumatologic aspects of toxocariasis (visceral Larva migrans). Apropos of 2 cases].

Visceral Larva migrans is a human infection by the larvae of dog ascarids or, more rarely, ascarids of other animal species. It is endemic in France. Two cases which respectively manifested as acute oligoarthritis and inflammatory myalgia with increased muscle enzyme levels are reported. Manifestations of the minor forms of this infestation are reviewed.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Hyena disease in cattle: a review.

Hyena disease was first reported in France in 1975 and since then has been recognized in many countries. It is currently regarded as a disorder of skeletal development, mainly localised in the pelvic limbs of young cattle. Some investigators consider that it is a metabolic disease but the authors believe that it may be caused by a virus. Their hypothesis, according to which bovine virus diarrhoea-mucosal disease virus is involved, is based on epidemiological, histopathological and immunological evidence.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Sonography of the hypertrophied column of Bertin.

A prospective sonographic analysis of kidneys in 136 adults without clinical or radiologic evidence of renal disease revealed 22 cases of large columns of Bertin. Most were located in the middle third of the kidney, more frequently on the left side. They were bilateral in 18%. Water bath sonograms of normal cadaver kidneys and subsequent anatomic correlation revealed hypertrophied columns and confirmed the sonographic findings seen in vivo. The following are characteristic of a hypertrophied column of Bertin: It is a projection of cortex into the renal sinus (and therefore is isoechogenic with it). The sinus may engulf it in a clawlike fashion. The renal contour is smooth. Sonography is characteristic and obviates further investigation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

The recanalized umbilical vein in portal hypertension: a myth.

The demonstration of a vessel in the falciform ligament, traditionally presumed to be a reopened umbilical vein, is an important sonographic sign of portal hypertension. This vessel was sought in 200 umbilicoportographies (all portal hypertensive) and in 41 autopsy-dissected falciform ligaments (34 normal and seven cirrhotic). The normal falciform ligament contained one to three tiny collapsed paraumbilical veins. In cirrhotics, the number and caliber of paraumbilical veins increased. A reopened umbilical vein was never found. The authors conclude that the umbilical vein does not recanalize in portal hypertension. The vessel involved is actually an enlarged paraumbilical vein.

Adult↗