PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Schaeffer

Publications and source records attributed to A Schaeffer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Severe pneumococcal sepsis and meningitis in human immunodeficiency virus-infected adults with sickle cell disease.

Pneumococcal infection is frequent in children with sickle-cell disease (SCD) but is less common in adults. Infection due to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is also a risk factor for pneumococcal infection. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical course of HIV infection in adults with SCD. During a 6-year period, 283 adults suffering from SCD were screened for HIV type 1 and HIV type 2 infections. The clinical course of HIV infections in these patients was retrospectively analyzed at the term of the study. HIV type 1 infection was detected in eight patients. The mean follow-up period after diagnosis of HIV infection was 4.6 years. None of the patients had AIDS. Five episodes of severe pneumococcal infection were observed in four of these eight patients (septic shock in two patients and three episodes of meningitis in two patients); two patients died of meningitis. Only one severe pneumococcal infection (meningitis) was observed in the 275 non-HIV-infected patients with SCD (P = .000001). Our results show that pneumococcal infection appears to occur frequently and is often serious in HIV-infected adults with SCD.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Organic arsenic-induced Guillain-Barré-like syndrome due to melarsoprol: a clinical, electrophysiological, and pathological study.

A young woman suffering from sleeping sickness was treated with melarsoprol. Thirty-eight days after the first administration of this organo-arsenic compound, myalgias, distal paresthesias and rapidly progressive weakness developed in all four limbs. Electrophysiological studies were misleading for Guillain-Barré syndrome. Neuropathological data included massive distal wallerian degeneration in peripheral nerves and abnormalities in dorsal ganglia and spinal cord where vacuolation of anterior horn cells and axonal neurofilamentous masses were observed. Very high concentrations of arsenic were found in the spinal cord, contrasting with undetectable levels in peripheral nerves. Our findings are consistent with an arsenic neuronopathy manifested by initial proximal demyelination and delayed distal axonal damage. Renal and hepatic dysfunctions, which were implicated in the toxic arsenic accumulation, should be systematically detected before administration of melarsoprol. The diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome must be considered with caution in patients treated with this compound.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Sheathing periostitis and Crohn's disease].

Periostitis is an uncommon extradigestive lesion in Crohn's disease. We report two cases. The first patient was a young man presenting with moderate digestive symptoms, intense bone pain and high fever simulating osteomyelitis. The second case was more similar to those previously reported in the literature as the periostal new bone formation occurred in a woman already treated for Crohn's disease. These observations show the importance for clinicians to be aware of the association of periostitis and Crohn's disease, especially as corticotherapy is susceptible to improve bone pain as well as digestive symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Comparative studies of cyclic 11, 12 erythromycin carbonate (davercin) and erythromycin a levels in lung tissue, serum and bronchial secretions].

A comparison of serum, pulmonary tissue and bronchial secretory levels of erythromycin and cyclic--11,12 carbonate of erythromycin (Davercin--Polfa) was carried out in 55 patients with lung cancer. All patients received erythromycin and Davercin 80 hours prior surgery, during which a small fragment of pulmonary tissue was removed for further evaluation. Concentration of both antibiotics was determined microbiologically. Better penetration of Davercin to the pulmonary tissue was found, as well as higher tissue concentration. The study demonstrates the advantage of Davercin over erythromycin in treating bacterial infections of the respiratory system.

Body Fluids↗
PubMed1988

[Value of a fraction of low molecular weight heparin, enoxaparine, in patients at high risk of hemorrhage and thrombosis].

Treatment of patients with both thromboembolic manifestations and acute bleeding episodes is poorly defined. The use of low molecular weight heparin fractions has been shown to provide prophylactic antithrombotic activity in humans, with the possibility of fewer hemorrhagic complications because of their low anticoagulant activity and weaker action on platelets. An open trial was carried out in 50 patients. 47 of whom had a recent history of thromboembolic accident (34 venous thrombosis, including 13 with pulmonary embolism, 9 systemic arterial episodes, 4 cardiac emboli) and 3 who required prophylaxis. Conventional heparin therapy was contraindicated in all patients: 30 because of major digestive or muscle hemorrhage and 20 with high hemorrhagic risk (neurosurgery, deep thrombocytopenia). Enoxaparine (Laboratoire Pharmuka, Gennevilliers) was administered as 1 mg/kg/24 hours as 2 divided injections with adjustment to maintain an anti-Xa activity of 0.1 to 0.4 IU/ml. Antithrombotic efficacy as function of type of pathology was rated excellent in all patients, while tolerance, evaluated similarly by tests chosen as a function of type of hemorrhage, was good: one patient had moderate bleeding after accidental overdose and 4 patients minor bleeding. Enoxaparine by subcutaneous injection could represent a new therapeutic approach by improving the efficacy/risk ratio in this type of patients.

Blood Coagulation Tests↗
PubMed1988

[Plasma exchange in polyradiculoneuritis in AIDS].

Plasma exchange was used in three cases of peripheral neuropathy of polyradiculoneuritis type in patients with AIDS. The neurologic lesion in the first case was due to a cytomegalovirus, and plasma exchange appeared to provide additional benefits (to antiviral treatment) during the first attack of polyradiculoneuritis. The peripheral neurologic disorders were probably related to the HIV itself in the other two cases, and plasma exchange was carried out only briefly because of the seriousness of the situation, which was unaffected. Although plasma exchange is possible, if particular technical precautions are taken, in patients with AIDS, the present series is too small for valid scientific evaluation.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1986

Catabolic properties of aglycofibrinogen synthesized by tunicamycin-treated human hepatoma (HepG2) cells and rabbit hepatocytes.

Human hepatoma cell (HepG2) or rabbit hepatocyte monolayers were incubated with [35S]methionine in presence or absence of tunicamycin, a potent inhibitor of asparagine-linked glycosylation. The 35S-labeled nonglycosylated and control fibrinogens purified from the media were used to evaluate the influence of the oligosaccharide on the catabolic properties of this glycoprotein. Plasmin, pronase, cathepsin D or cathepsin B each degraded the nonglycosylated and control fibrinogens similarly, as evidenced by the release of trichloroacetic acid-soluble radioactivity and by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography of plasmic digests. Nonglycosylated and control fibrin clots also showed no differences in susceptibility to plasmic digestion. The two forms of fibrinogen demonstrated the same plasma half-life in rabbits. These data indicate that the oligosaccharide does not influence the proteolytic stability or the in vivo plasma survival of fibrinogen, and suggest that other biochemical determinants may influence the catabolic properties of this molecule.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Peripheral neuropathy in patients treated with almitrine dimesylate.

Sensory peripheral neuropathy developed in 5 patients treated with almitrine dimesylate, 60-100 mg/day. Onset was insidious, beginning symmetrically in the legs with stocking sensory loss and loss of ankle-jerks. Cerebrospinal fluid protein levels were slightly increased and there was electrophysiological and histological evidence of distal axonopathy. The interval between the first dose of almitrine dimesylate and onset of symptoms ranged from 2 to 4 months in 4 patients. All patients had noted a recent weight loss of 4-15 kg which may have resulted in release of previously bound drug.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

Salicylate intoxication and influenza in ferrets.

A model of salicylate intoxication was developed in ferrets to permit the evaluation of the interaction with viruses isolated from patients with Reye's syndrome. Salicylate intoxication produced a mild elevation of the serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase and fatty changes in the liver, but these changes differed from those seen in Reye's syndrome on light and electron microscopy. Salicylates were associated with decreased activity of hepatic phosphorylase and a slight depression of activity or ornithine transcarbamylase, a mitochondrial urea cycle enzyme. Infection with influenza viruses produced mild fatty changes in the liver, but did not significantly potentiate the effects of salicylate intoxication on the over-all mortality, the degree of fatty changes, or the hepatic enzymes. Influenza infection alone was not associated with decreased hepatic phosphorylase activity, but was associated with decreased activity of ornithine transcarbamylase. Influenza A was isolated from the livers of two of four animals cultured in embryonated eggs.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Biological parameters of the blood in the genetically obese Zucker rat.

A study of the various biological parameters of the blood in the genetically obese Zucker rat, the nonobese Zucker rat, and the Wistar rat has revealed great similarity between the two latter types of animals. On the other hand, in genetically obese Zucker rats as compared with the nonobese ones, (1) the blood mass per unit of weight was lower; (2) the level of nitrogenous degradation compounds was the same; (3) the lipase activity was lower; (4) the levels of substances for which liver plays a crucial role--all lipid and protein fractions, glucose, and the enzyme GPT--were higher; (5) the levels of Ca, Zn, Fe, Cu and Pi were high; (6) the blood and bone-marrow cells were unremarkable.

Animals↗