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Biomedical subjects

D Speckel

Publications and source records attributed to D Speckel.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Anticipation in familial Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND: Offspring with a family history of Crohn's disease have an earlier age of onset than their parents. This might be due to genetic anticipation, characterised by earlier and/or more severe disease in subsequent generations. AIMS: To investigate the possibility of genetic anticipation in affected parent-child pairs with Crohn's disease from France and Belgium. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a cohort of 160 multiply affected families with Crohn's disease, 57 parent-first affected child pairs were detected. Clinical characteristics (age at diagnosis, disease extent, and type) of both parents and children were registered and compared. RESULTS: Children were younger than their parents at diagnosis in 48/57 (84%) pairs. The median age at diagnosis was 16 years younger in children than in parents (p < 0.0001). However, the difference was related to the age at diagnosis in the parents and was not present in 12 parent-child pairs with an early age at diagnosis for the parents. In most cases, disease extent and type were not considered more severe in children than in parents. Parental sex affected neither age at diagnosis nor extent and type of disease in children. CONCLUSION: Patients in the second affected generation acquire their disease at an earlier time in life in some but not all familial cases of Crohn's disease. Several explanations including genetic anticipation and environmental factors might explain this phenomenon.

Adolescent↗

[The estimation of fetal weight by measurement of the adipose tissue of the extremities. Use in the diagnosis of hypotrophy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the accuracy of small for age fetuses diagnosis by a new method of fetal weight estimation, in comparison with some others models. A retrospective study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: From a 232 fetuses population, whom age is known, ultrasound measurement have been performed (BPD, TBD, FL, AC and thigh circumference). Three physicians collaborated to data collection. All measurement have been done within a 3 days duration between measuring and birth in order to compare actual and calculated weight. There are 39 small fetuses coming from 10th percentile (17.5%), between then 24 from 5th percentile. RESULTS: Positive predictive value (PPV) of small for age diagnosis (from 10th P) by our model is 74% with a 74% sensibility and a 94% specificity. With Warsof estimation model, the PPV is only 47% with a 71% sensibility and a 83% specificity (p = 0.001). COMMENTS: Limbs subcutaneous fat ultrasound measurement improve considerably fetal weight estimation quality (mean error = 6% vs 10% for most of the classical models) and, as an extension, small for age fetuses diagnosis. The cutaneous and subcutaneous circumferences, between which is situated fat tissue have a better individual correlation to actual weight than abdominal circumference, usually considered as the best trophicity parameter. CONCLUSION: High positive predictive value show long term predictive detection possibility. It appears that this diagnosis could be done earlier with a better accuracy that the classical ultrasound biometry.

Abdomen↗

[Duplex ultrasonography in the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis of the legs. Agreement between two operators].

The operator-dependent nature of venous Duplex-ultrasonography diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of the leg is the principal reproach applied to it and a reason for delaying use. The aim of the present study was to evaluate concordance between two operators, with rigorous application of the same methodology of exploration of the venous axes. The study included 82 patients under hospital care, randomly selected from among those referred for the first Duplex-ultrasonography examination for DVT, and having accepted to undergo 2 consecutive explorations, one by each of the two operators. The two operators evaluated independently, for the 19 venous axes of the legs: 1: the interpretability of the examination, 2: the differential diagnosis between: absence of thrombus, presence of thrombus, nonconclusive examination, and 3: the score for the DVT extension. Evaluation of concordance of diagnosis was by Cohen's kappa coefficient, calculated on the positive diagnosis of DVT and the site of the most proximal thrombus. Extension scores were compared by calculation of the coefficient of correlation "r". Interpretability rates were 92% and 91% respectively for the two operators, 35 DVT being diagnosed in 27 patients by operator A and 36 DVT in 27 patients by operator B. The kappa coefficient for diagnosis of DVT with localization in the affected leg was 0.90 [0.81-0.98]. It was 0.89 [0.73-1] for proximal lesions, 0.86 [0.74-0.97] for the lower leg level, and 0.79 for localization of the proximal extremity of the thrombus. Extension scores evaluated by the two operators were 2.88 and 3.14 respectively, with a coefficient of correlation between the extension scores of 0.96. The 5 diagnostic divergences concerned the lower leg level; the 2 localization discordances concerned: the frontier zones leg-lower popliteal, lower femoral-upper popliteal. Good concordance between results of the two operators using Duplex-ultrasonography exploration was obtained even though the majority of the DVT were in the calf, a region known to be explored with difficulty. Overcoming the operator-dependent character of Duplex-ultrasonography by a rigorous exploratory methodology could make it the future reference examination for the diagnosis of DVT.

Female↗

[Ultrasonic estimation of fetal weight. Value of measuring limb fat].

Many ultrasound models for estimating fetal weight have been proposed and for two reasons have not proved to be very successful. First, the weight of the future newborn baby is not necessarily the principal element of neonatal prognosis. Second, the different methods of measurements are so often inaccurate. Many studies dealing with estimates of fetal weight were based on traditional measurements and were therefore not very precise. We suggest a new method based on ultrasound fetal fat measures on a transverse section. This prospective study was made from 274 measurements of which half were used to establish the basic calculation formula and half for the purpose of statistical analysis. The overall accuracy (the median of departure from the means), is 6.3%. This model is particularly good in the case of small foetuses: 6.9% in the 1,000 to 1,500 grams group. Fetal fat seems to be more apt to provide information concerning weight. This measure is inherently a good one for estimating growth and should prove to be particularly interesting in the screening of small for date fetuses.

Adipose Tissue↗

Brain kinetics and specific binding of [11C]PK 11195 to omega 3 sites in baboons: positron emission tomography study.

We characterized, in vivo, using positron emission tomography in baboons, the kinetics and specific binding of i.v. injected [11C]PK 11195 to omega 3 sites in the brain. Following immediate access to brain tissue, the brain kinetics of [11C] K 11195 showed a slow elimination for the 60 min of study. Both coinjection and pulse-chase (at t = 8 min) with saturating amounts of cold PK 11195 immediately enhanced the availability of radiotracer to brain tissue, but also markedly increased the rate of washout. These effects presumably reflect displacement or inhibition of specifically bound [11C]PK 11195 to both peripheral and central omega 3 sites, respectively. These results indicate that [11C]PK 11195 has easy access and binds with moderate specificity to the normal primate brain in vivo.

Animals↗

[Panic disorder and microcirculation. Controlled study of capillaries in anxiety disorders].

However varied the clinical descriptions of anxiety, a sizeable proportion is always allotted to the cardiovascular aspect. One is reminded of Krishaber's cerebral-cardiac neuropathy and Brissaud's conception of anxiety. The implication of the heart in anxiety disorders, especially paroxystic disorder, i.e. panic attacks (PA) is important. Cardiovascular symptoms (tachycardia, increased systolic blood pressure, chest pain) are among the most frequent manifestations of panic; furthermore, recent studies suggest that male panic disorder (PD) patients have an increased mortality risk from cardiovascular diseases. It is with this implication in mind that we undertook this study, the main aim of which was to confirm the existence of an abnormal microcirculation, characteristic of PD, taking the form of an excess number of twisted capillaries. Abnormal capillaries had been described previously in non-controlled studies of patients with psychiatric disorders diagnosed as neurasthenia, neurosis, neurovegetative disorders and more recently as neurocirculatory asthenia, a syndrome similar to PD. This led us to undertake a study of the total number of capillaries observed by photomicrography (capillaroscopy) in the supra-ungueal fold of the fingers of both hands (except thumbs), comparing the number of twisted capillaries of 16 subjects suffering from panic disorder with or without agoraphobia according to the DSM III-R criteria, with those of 16 healthy volunteers matched for age and sex and 14 subjects suffering from other anxiety disorders (10 of them fulfilling criteria for generalized anxiety disorders).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗