PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

E Berard

Publications and source records attributed to E Berard.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Increased urinary catecholamines in a hypertensive child with renal artery stenosis.

We report a hypertensive child with renal artery stenosis who exhibited increased urinary excretion of norepinephrine (NE) and normetanephrine (NMN), while vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) excretion was within the normal range. The NMN values prompted us to investigate the patient for pheochromocytoma; for this purpose, NE was determined by plasma catecholamine assays in venous samples obtained by catheterization. The moderately increased NE levels could not be localized to any particular sampling site. Arteriography demonstrated right renal artery abnormalities. Following right nephrectomy with preservation of the right adrenal gland, arterial blood pressure returned to normal. The cause of increased NMN excretion without a concomitant rise in VMA during hypertension is discussed.

Angiography↗
PubMed1995

Effects of tiludronate on bone loss in paraplegic patients.

Immobilization secondary to spinal cord injury is associated with a marked and rapid atrophy of trabecular bone (disuse osteoporosis). This is due to an early increase of osteoclastic bone resorption associated with a pronounced decreased osteoblastic bone formation. Bisphosphonates are antiosteoclastic compounds and they have been effective in preventing disuse osteoporosis. However, some of them also depress osteoblastic activity and may impair the mineralization process. Tiludronate was shown effective in reducing bone resorption in several metabolic bone diseases without inducing mineralization defects. Twenty paraplegic patients (6 females and 14 males) were randomly assigned to three groups: 6 patients entered the placebo group; 7 patients received tiludronate 200 mg/day; and 7 received 400 mg/day. Histomorphometric analysis was performed on transiliac bone biopsies before and after 3 months treatment. An insignificant decrease of bone volume was observed in the placebo group and the 200 mg group. In patients receiving 400 mg/day, a slight increase was noted. Osteoid parameters changed nonsignificantly in three groups although the 400 mg group exhibited a slight tendency to decrease osteoid volume and thickness. Eroded surfaces increased in all groups. The number of osteoclasts (identified histochemically by TRAP staining) increased in the placebo group but decreased in groups receiving tiludronate. Tiludronate appears effective in reducing bone resorption without impairing bone formation in a manner that preserved bone mass and bone cell coupling.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

L-carnitine in dialysed patients: the choice of dosage regimen.

Although carnitine levels and carnitine therapy have been extensively studied in dialysis patients, the pathophysiology of L-carnitine is poorly understood. The usual therapeutic dose is 20-30 mg/kg, resulting in dramatic increases of circulating levels above the normal values. Guided by studies on its lipidic effect and by our experience of its action on haematocrit, we propose the use of 2-3 mg/kg of L-carnitine in future prospective studies.

Carnitine↗
PubMed1992

[Value of MRI in various forms of idiopathic growth hormone deficiency].

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the sellar and juxta sellar area was performed in 40 children with idiopathic hypopituitarism. MRI was normal in the 17 patients with partial growth hormone (GH) deficiency and in the 5 patients with GH neurosecretory dysfunction. Among the 18 patients with complete GH deficiency, the 10 with pituitary stalk transection presented more often with perinatal abnormalities, had the most severe GH deficiencies and more frequently multiple hormone deficiencies, in particular TSH deficiency. Pituitary gland size studies showed that the small size of the residual glandular tissue was responsible for these particularities. If MRI is of no great interest for functional GH deficiency, in half of the primary complete GH deficiencies, it enables to visualize a pituitary stalk transection with regeneration of neurohypophysis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Variation in peak expiratory flow of normal and asymptomatic asthmatic children.

Peak expiratory flow (PEF) variation was measured in 18 healthy children (Group I) aged 9.25 to 13.3 years (mean, 11 years) and in 17 asymptomatic asthmatic children (Group II) aged 8.75 to 14.25 years (mean, 11.9 years) receiving no bronchodilators. PEF was measured four times a day for a period of 10-14 days. There were no differences between Group I and Group II regarding age, height, weight, sex, duration of the study, and overall mean PEF values. Mean daily PEF variation amplitude (difference between the highest and the lowest daily values as a percent of the mean) was significantly higher in Group II than in Group I subjects (15.2 vs. 9.9%), and so was cosinor amplitude (9.6 vs. 5.9%). Significant circadian rhythm in PEF was detected by cosinor analysis in nine subjects of Group I and in eight subjects of Group II. Mean PEF bathyphase calculated by cosinor analysis (trough time in a 24 h scale) was similar in the two groups (0503 h, in Group I and 0434 h in Group II). The results of this study show that the amplitude of circadian variation in PEF tends to be higher in asymptomatic asthmatic children than in normal children, but there is too much overlap to use PEF monitoring to identify an individual asymptomatic asthmatic child. Therefore, diurnal variation of PEF is not suitable for diagnosing mild asthmatics.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Effects of clodronate on immobilization bone loss.

Clodronate can be used in animals to prevent the effects of immobilization on bone. For this reason we have studied the effects of this agent on immobilisation bone loss in man. We administered clodronate by mouth to 14 paraplegic patients (400 mg/d, n = 7; 1600 mg/day, n = 7), and compared its effect with a placebo (n = 7). Treatment was given for 100 days, 5-29 days after spinal cord injury. Our results suggest that clodronate, given early after immobilization, prevents the acute bone loss observed in immobilization as judged by its effects on serum and urine calcium and hydroxyproline, bone mineral content, trabecular bone volume, and the number of osteoclasts present in bone. No mineralization defect or other side-effects were observed during or after treatment. In addition, a total of 70 patients, with comparable degrees of immobilization, were studied with a variety of antiosteoclastic drugs comprising controls (n = 16), etidronate (n = 20), salmon calcitonin (n = 20) and clodronate 400 mg/d (n = 7) or 1600 mg/d (n = 7). Clodronate, at the dose of 1600 mg/d appeared the most effective drug on bone resorption, together with calcitonin. Unlike calcitonin, clodronate can be administered orally. The mineralisation defects observed during prolonged treatment with etidronate at high doses were not observed with clodronate. We conclude that clodronate 1600 mg/d is a promising agent for the treatment of bone loss and the resorptive hypercalcaemia and hypercalciuria noted in immobilisation.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

[Longterm pH measurement in the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux in children. Apropos of 20 cases].

Long duration continuous recording of esophageal pH was performed in 20 children suspected of having gastroesophageal reflux. Six pH monitoring parameters were analysed and their values compared with normal standards found in the literature. The results of pH monitoring were compared with those of upper gastrointestinal series and with oesophagoscopy, performed in all patients but one. The diagnostic utility of long duration pH monitoring is discussed, according to data in the literature.

Child↗
PubMed1983

Life expectancy following spinal cord injury: a ten-years survey in the Rhône-Alpes Region, France, 1969-1980.

A ten years survey of 848 patients having sustained traumatic spinal cord injury between 1969 and 1979 was conducted in the Rhône-Alpes Region, France. All patients had been referred to the spinal cord injury unit, Hôpital Henry Gabrielle. 48 deaths were recorded: 36 patients admitted early to the Unit, and 12 patients injured before 1969 but followed-up in the Unit. The deceased patients were older and more frequently male and tetraplegic than the rest of the group. In 75 per cent of the deceased patients, the survival time was less than 1/5 of the theoretical life expectancy. In 59 per cent, it was less than 1/10. Twenty tetraplegics died of respiratory complications. Three patients committed suicide, the rest died of urinary complications. The results appear to determine a secondary period with high mortality rate, after the initial high mortality of these patients. About one year post-injury, the life expectancy in our series appears to tend towards the values observed in the French population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Effects of disodium dichloromethylene diphosphonate on bone loss in paraplegic patients.

21 paraplegic patients with recent traumatic spinal cord injury were orally administered 400 (n = 7) or 1,600 (n = 7) mg/d of disodium dichloromethylene diphosphonate (Cl2MDP) and compared with a placebo group (n = 7) to test the preventive effects of the drug on acute bone loss and osteoclastic resorption. Cl2MDP therapy was initiated at a mean of 17.6 d after the onset of paraplegia. The study lasted at least 6 mo, consisting of a 3.5-mo treatment period, and a variable follow-up period. The effects of Cl2MDP were assessed by blood and urine biochemistry, bone histomorphometry on transilial samples, photon absorptiometry of the tibia and fibula, and radiomorphometry of the femur. The elevation in serum and urinary calcium and in urine hydroxyproline observed in the placebo group did not appear under treatment. With both doses of Cl2MDP there was no further decrease in the bone mineral content. In the treated groups, a smaller percentage increase in osteoclastic population was also noted when compared with the placebo group, but this difference was not significant. There was no mineralization defect induced by Cl2MDP, as shown by tetracycline double labeling. It thus appears that at doses ranging between 400 and 1,600 mg, given as early as possible, Cl2MDP can prevent or reduce the development of the acute bone loss of paraplegic patients, without adverse side effects, though it does not prevent the development of heterotopic ossification.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Semiological value of painful sensitivity of the testis in spinal cord injuries [proceedings].

About 85 cases of spinal cord male injured patients; the authors bring their experience of the painful sensitivity of the testis by squeezing the gland. This sign has a semiological value about the topography and the level of complete and incomplete cord syndromes. It is of no value for the testicular fertility. The rehabilitation of neurological bladders must take this sign into account so as to appreciate the type of micturition.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Epidemiology of spinal cord injury in the Rhône-Alpes Region, France, 1970-75.

Three hundred and fifty-one cases of traumatic spinal cord injuries concerning only inhabitants of the Rhône-Alpes region have been collected at Henry Gabrielle Hospital. Incidence and prevalence are discussed, as well as male/female ratio, causes of accidents, and their relationship to sex, race, age, vertebral level, associated injuries and profession.

Accidents, Traffic↗