PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

F van den Brûle

Publications and source records attributed to F van den Brûle.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

[Adenomyosis: update on a frequent but difficult diagnosis].

Adenomyosis is a frequent entity, with difficult diagnosis, often obtained by pathological analysis performed after hysterectomy. This condition can cause abnormal uterine bleeding and dysmenorrhea, frequent reasons for consultation and hysterectomy. The development of ultrasonographic and magnetic resonance imaging techniques allow preoperative diagnosis. They also permit the use of hysteroscopic techniques for conservative uterine surgery, and have brought diagnosis and management of this disease to the front of the scene. This article reviews the pathological description of the disease, its epidemiology, clinical presentations, useful and necessary explorations, etiopathogeny and available therapies.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed2005

[The first gynecological consultation in teens].

The first gynecological consultation is particularly important for teens. It not only allows to answer the patient's questions, for instance, by prescribing a contraception, but also to provide an adequate information about some subjects, including sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, and some life-style habits. This article will review the various important points of this first consultation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

[Risk of thromboembolism in contraception and hormone substitution: an update and recommendations].

Venous and arterial thromboembolism events are unfrequent but classical complications of sex steroid therapy, in contraception and menopause. The relative risks induced by these treatments have recently highlighted by the general press, in particular for the 2nd and 3rd generation progestins in oral contraception. In this article, we will review the risks of venous and arterial thromboembolism in patients treated with oral contraception or postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy. Practical guidelines will be defined.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

[Prostate carcinoma cell lines and apoptosis: a review].

Prostate cancer is a major pathology in industrialized countries. Tumor growth usually results from increased cell proliferation, conjugated with an inhibition of programmed cell death (apoptosis). In this paper, after a short description of the apoptotic mechanisms and their methods of investigation, we review the present knowledge of the implication of different molecular actors in the regulation of apoptosis in prostate cancer cells. This review notably summarizes the present knowledge of the (de)regulation of the effects of androgens, p53, Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bax, Akt, PTEN, Par-4, clusterine, caspases and NF-kappaB in prostate adenocarcinoma cell lines and provides an appraisal of their therapeutic potential. A better knowledge of the apoptotic pathways in these cells could indeed allow the development of new selective and effective anti-cancer strategies.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed2003

[Postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer risk: an update].

Numerous studies have examined the risk of breast cancer in patients with postmenopausal hormone substitution. Most of these studies are retrospective, and a few recent studies are prospective. The observed results present with weak variations from baseline and major heterogeneity. Some studies highlight a slightly increased relative risk of breast cancer. A reanalysis of 51 studies demonstrates a relative risk of 1.35 for developing breast cancer during hormone substitution, with a 2.3% increased risk per year of use. Recently, the results of the WHI study have shown a slight increase of some risks of disease, including breast cancer (relative risk, 1.26). These results have induced the interruption of one of the 3 arms of the study (that of the patients treated with an estrogen-progestin combination), and have provoked a new discussion about the benefits and risks associated with hormone substitution. These facts have been largely related and commented in the general press. In this article, we review the important studies concerning this topic.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed2003

[Body mass changes at menopause: impact of therapeutic strategies].

Weight gain constitutes a worry for perimenopausal patients. Current understanding of the problem indicates that age constitutes the most important factor, whereas menopause contributes to the development of android obesity. Hygyenodietetic counseling allows to reduce or even prevent these problems. Finally, hormone replacement therapy does not induce weight gain: it rather contributes to reduce central adipose deposition and improves the risk profile of menopausal patients, in relation to the nature and metabolic profile of the prescribed molecules.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed2002

[Towards better investigation of abnormal uterine bleeding and uterine pathologies].

Exploration of menometrorrhagia needs perfect imaging of the uterus and pathologic analysis in order to diagnose the endometrial pathologies responsible for abnormal uterine bleeding. We present here a clinical case typical for difficulties in the exploration of abnormal uterine bleeding, and discuss the diagnostical steps.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed2002

[Clinical study of the month. Benefit/risk balance of postmenopausal estrogen-progestin treatment in peril in the Women's Health Initiative study: practical attitude of the clinician].

The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) is sponsored by the NIH. The study focuses on risk and benefits of strategies that could potentially reduce the incidence of heart disease, breast and colon cancer, and fractures in postmenopausal women. One arm of the study, a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, looking at the effects of continuous combined estrogen-progestin regimen was stopped prematurely based on health risks which exceeded health benefits. The main reason for this decision was the increase in risk of invasive breast cancer, as well as a slight increase in the rate of myocardial infarction and stroke. In this paper, we inform our colleagues of the detailed results of the study. We comment on its limitation and discuss the new original observations. Finally, we integrate the others to previous world literature data that are confirmed by the WHI study. It is important for the individual prescribing practitioner to issue practical conclusions and therapeutic recommendations. The department of Obstetrics and Gynaecologic of the University of Liege, in agreement with the European Menopause Society and the International Menopause Society, is convinced that there is no alternative to the hormone replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms. We should stick to the traditional indications for hormones, namely vasomotor symptoms and osteoporosis. We should continue to recommend hormones for symptomatic women. One should realize that the risk for breast cancer appears only after several years of use, and the risk for cardiovascular events below age 60 is very small (the age of the patients was 63 at inclusion in the WHI study). We should encourage women to take the necessary measures for routine, periodic breast examinations (both manual, echographic and radiographic). Women who use HRT for more than 5 years should discuss the latest data of the WHI study with their physician, in order to consider their individual benefit-risk equation. Those who feel good on hormones and are fully satisfied with this treatment should learn of possible harm after long-term use. It is important to take into account the importance of quality of life. We should leave to the patient the final decision whether or not to continue the treatment. It is presently impossible to decide whether other estroprogestin associations, other administration routes and other molecules such as estradiol, natural progesterone or other progestins, SERMS and Tibolone could have an impact very different from that of the estroprogestin combination used in the WHI study. It is the duty of every physician to decide, from the complex epidemiological data obtained in the aged women (63-68 years) with a high cardiovascular risk in the WHI study, if it is possible or not in each individual case to recommend the initiation or pursue of an hormone replacement therapy.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2002

[How I explore...a gynecologic pathology. Part 1: clinical history and examination].

After major technical advances in obstetrics and gynecology, one can unfortunately observe a decreased quality of the clinical history and gynecological examination, and of usual paraclinical tests. However, outpatient gynecological examination is the main component of a precise diagnosis and of possible medical or surgical treatments. In this article, we review the successive steps of outpatient clinic examination, with emphasis on the important parts of clinical examination. The complementary explorations will be detailed in the second part of this article, in a future issue of the Revue Médicale de Liège. The pathologies will not be exhaustively reviewed in this manuscript; only the diagnostic side of clinical examination will be detailed.

Female↗
PubMed2002

[How I explore...gynecological pathology. Part 2: Supplementary examinations].

The general decrease in the quality of anamnesis and clinical gynecological examination and the use of expensive complementary examinations lead us to redefine the bases of the gynecological outpatient consultation. The anamnesis and clinical examination have been detailed in the precedent issue of the Revue Médicale de Liège. The present article will explain the commonly performed complementary examinations during gynecological explorations.

Female↗
PubMed2000

[New forms of hormonal contraception].

Among new forms of hormonal contraception, three interesting exemples are described with a high level of effectiveness and low dosage regimen that allow improved safety and tolerance: a very low-dose estrogen-progestogen combination of ethinylestradiol and gestodene for 24-day cyclical administration; a progestogen-alone subcutaneous implant containing etonogestrel; and a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system. These preparations appear to be particularly interesting as they provide additional possibilities for individualizing contraceptive therapy.

Contraceptive Agents, Female↗
PubMed1999

Galectin-1 expression in prostate tumor-associated capillary endothelial cells is increased by prostate carcinoma cells and modulates heterotypic cell-cell adhesion.

Besides providing tumors with nutrients, newly formed capillaries constitute a potential escape route for tumor cells favoring metastatic dissemination, and constitute an access for the anti-tumoral host immune cells. Galectin-1, a soluble human lectin, is involved in numerous biological functions including cell-cell and cell-substrate interactions. In addition, galectin-1 is able to induce apoptosis of activated T-lymphocytes. In this study, we have examined galectin-1 expression in capillaries associated to the carcinoma cells or present in the remote non-tumoral stroma of 100 human prostate carcinoma samples by immunoperoxidase staining. Galectin-1 was expressed by endothelial cells from capillaries infiltrating the tumor tissue in 64% (64/100) of the cases. On the contrary, endothelial cells in the adjacent non-tumoral stroma expressed galectin-1 in very few cases (7/100). Increased frequency of galectin-1-positive capillaries in the tumor-associated compared to the tumor-free areas was observed in 63% of the cases. This striking contrast led us to set up an in vitro model to test whether tumor cells could induce galectin-1 expression by endothelial cells. Incubation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells with conditioned media from PC-3 or DU 145 prostate carcinoma cells led to a significant increase of galectin-1 protein expression (+32.97% and 37.91% P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). PC-3 conditioned medium also induced increased adhesion values of PC-3 cells to the endothelial cells (53.4 +/- 4.7 vs. 38.5 +/- 3.5 after 30 min; 66.6 +/- 7.8 vs. 46.2 +/- 6.4 after 60 min). An anti-galectin-1 antiserum abolished this modulation, and recombinant galectin-1 also induced increased adhesion values in a dose-dependent fashion. This effect was specific as no such modulations were observed using normal lymphocytes instead of PC-3 cells. Preferential galectin-1 expression in the endothelial cells close to the cancer cells could provide these latter with increased abilities to interact with the endothelial cells as well as a defense against the host immune system.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

[Vaginal infections and sexually transmitted diseases].

The diagnosis and treatment of vaginal and sexually transmitted infections constitute an important part of the activity of the gynaecologist and of the general practitioner. In this review article, we will describe various clinical entities, including bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal Candidiasis, trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, syphilis, genital herpes, Chlamydial infection, and pelvic inflammatory disease. The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome will not be described here.

Bacterial Infections↗