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Biomedical subjects

D Rodrigue

Publications and source records attributed to D Rodrigue.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment of girls with constitutional short stature and normal pubertal development.

GnRH agonists have been proposed to improve final height in patients with constitutional short stature. We treated 31 girls, aged 11.9 +/- 1 yr (mean +/- SD), with short stature, recent pubertal onset and predicted final height of 155 cm or less with depot triptorelin. During the 23 +/- 4 months of treatment, bone age progression was 0.6 +/- 0.3 bone age yr/yr, and growth velocity declined from 7 +/- 2 to 4 +/- 0.8 cm/yr (P < 0.0001). Height prognosis, calculated by the Bayley-Pinneau method, progressed from 149.6 +/- 3.4 to 151.8 +/- 4 cm at the end of treatment (+2.2 +/- 2.6 cm; P < 0.0001). When treatment was interrupted, growth velocity slightly increased to 4.6 +/- 1.6 cm/yr, and bone age maturation was accelerated: 1.3 +/- 0.4 bone age yr/yr during the first posttreatment year. At the last visit, 26 +/- 9 months after interruption of treatment, bone age was 14.9 +/- 1.3 yr (> or = 13.5 yr in all patients), height was 149.1 +/- 4 cm, and final height prognosis was 150.6 +/- 3.6 cm. Final height prognosis was 1 +/- 2.3 cm greater than pretreatment height prognosis (P < 0.02) and 1.2 +/- 2.2 cm below the height predicted at the end of the treatment (P < 0.01). No major side-effect was observed. Height SD score decreased during treatment with GnRH agonist from -2.3 +/- 0.9 to -2.7 +/- 0.7 SD score (P < 0.0001). We conclude that 2 yr of depot triptorelin-induced pubertal delay has a limited effect on near-final height in girls with constitutional short stature and that the growth benefit observed does not currently justify the use of GnRH agonists, given their cost and potential side-effects.

Adolescent

Outbreaks of Salmonella enteritidis infections in the United States, 1985-1991.

The spread of Salmonella enteritidis infections in the United States was tracked to identify potential risk factors and preventive measures. Isolation rates and information regarding outbreaks of S. enteritidis from 1985 through 1991 were determined by reports to the national Salmonella surveillance system and through the foodborne disease outbreak surveillance system. From 1985 through 1991, 380 outbreaks were reported involving 13,056 ill persons and 50 deaths. The proportion of Northeast outbreaks fell from 81% in 1985 to 55% in 1991 as the number of outbreaks in other areas increased. Grade A shell eggs were implicated in 82% of outbreaks. Case-fatality rates in nursing homes and hospitals were 70 times higher than in other settings. Cultures of environmental or animal specimens from all farms tested yielded S. enteritidis. Eggborne S. enteritidis infections are a major public health problem. Preventive measures, including educating consumers about proper handling of eggs, using pasteurized eggs, and controlling infections on egg farms, may stem the impact of this disease.

Disease Outbreaks

Correction of blepharoptosis in oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy: review of 91 cases.

Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy is a progressive, hereditary myopathy in which the levator palpebrae and the pharyngeal muscles are selectively involved. Progressive, usually symmetric blepharoptosis with or without dysphagia appears in the fifth decade. The high prevalence of this myopathy in Quebec stems from the immigration of a single couple from France in 1634, whose numerous descendants manifest its autosomal dominant heredity. We review our experience in 91 cases over 20 years. The ptosis was moderate in 83% of the cases at the time of surgery, and the average age was 65 years. Beard's surgical guidelines for correction of ptosis based on the degree of ptosis and residual levator function were applied directly in cases of primary intervention, with consistently satisfactory results. This is in contrast to other types of hereditary myopathic ptosis, in which the guidelines must be modified. The rate of recurrence of ptosis among patients followed for at least 9 years was 13%.

Aged

[Immunity to and incidence of measles in a population of Parisian children].

BACKGROUND: Measles remains prevalent in France despite the development of nationwide vaccination program. This study evaluates measles immunity and correlates it with active immunization. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 250 (131 boys and 119 girls) French children, aged 2 to 15 years, seen as outpatients in our hospital, were studied from 1.01.90 to 1.06.91; 133 had received live measles vaccine during the 2nd year of life, the 117 others were not vaccine-protected. Evaluation included medical records, specially those concerning past-history of measles or measles-like diseases and immunizations. Measles IgG and IgM antibodies (ELISA) were looked for in all 250 children. RESULTS: 102 of the 117 children who were not vaccine-protected had a detectable antibody titer. 42 of these 102 had a history of measles, before the age of 5 years in 30, between 5 and 10 years in 9 and after the age of 10 years in 3. Only 4 of the 70 children aged over 10 years and not vaccine-protected had no detectable antibodies. 131 of the 133 actively immunized children had detectable antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: Measles is probably more frequently subclinical than was believed until now. Its relative frequency in France in children who had not received the live vaccine explains the high percentage of those aged over 10 years who had detectable antibodies and the relatively low incidence of the disease in teenagers and young adults.

Adolescent

[Neonatal pneumococcus laryngitis].

Report of a case of laryngitis beginning within the first 10 hours of life. The epiglottis was red, swollen, and covered by a membrane. Culture of laryngeal swabs isolated Streptococcus pneumoniae. Complete recovery was obtained with antibiotic therapy.

Anti-Bacterial Agents

The evaluation of forearm density with axial tomography.

The purpose of the present investigation was to validate axial tomography technique for estimating forearm density. Twenty forearm specimens from six male and four female embalmed human cadavers were used. Segmental mass, volume and density criteria were obtained by weight in air, hydrostatic weight and mass/volume ratio, respectively. Densities of bones and muscles were similarly measured. Segmental density as measured by axial tomography was overestimated by an average of 2.1% and the errors ranged from 0.05 to 4.81%. Results from this study indicated the presence of three density regions in the segment. Moreover, density data were found to be very similar in all zones of the central region of the segment (2/3 of its length) to actual segment density. It is thus actually possible to estimate forearm density in living humans, by taking two scans in the central zone of the segment if data pertaining to tissue densities are available.

Aged

Heterogeneity in evolutive patterns of inbred mice infected with a cloned substrain of mouse hepatitis virus type 3.

F1 hybrid mice, resulting from a cross between a susceptible and a resistant parent, were infected with a cloned substrain of mouse hepatitis virus type 3 (MHV3). Results showed various evolutive patterns ranging from fulminant hepatitis to persistent infection and excluded virus variation as an explanation for different disease types. Since host resistance to MHV3 has been previously shown to be under the genetic influence of 1 or 2 genes only rather than a polygenic phenomenon, these results strongly suggest that nongenetic factors play a major role in the determination of evolutive patterns.

Acute Disease