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Fernando Pico

Publications and source records attributed to Fernando Pico.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Basilar artery diameter and 5-year mortality in patients with stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Few and conflicting data exist on the case fatality rate in stroke patients with basilar artery dolichoectasia. We analyzed basilar artery characteristics (diameter, height of bifurcation, transverse position) and 5-year mortality (all-cause, nonstroke vascular, and stroke) in patients with brain infarction. METHODS: The basilar artery diameter was measured with a 16-diopter lens in 466 consecutively recruited patients with brain infarction confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging. The height of the bifurcation and the transverse position of the basilar artery were assessed on semiquantitative scales. Patients were followed up for a median of 5.3 years (range, 1.5 to 6.6) and were classified as having had stroke, nonstroke vascular, and nonvascular death according to the French national registry of death certificates. RESULTS: Of the 157 deaths, 88 were vascular (including 54 stroke deaths). Basilar artery diameter was associated with an increased 5-year stroke mortality rate but not with all-cause or nonstroke vascular mortality. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of stroke mortality per 1-mm increase in basilar artery diameter was 1.23 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07 to 1.41). A higher risk of stroke death was associated with basilar artery diameter at the 95th percentile (diameter >4.3 mm; adjusted HR 3.69; 95% CI, 1.63 to 8.38) and the height of bifurcation (adjusted HR for score >1, 2.08; 95% CI, 0.93 to 4.68) but not with transverse position. CONCLUSIONS: Basilar artery diameter was independently associated with cerebrovascular mortality. A diameter >4.3 mm may be a marker for a high risk of fatal stroke.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of aplidine, a new marine cyclodepsipeptide in patients with advanced malignancies.

PURPOSE: To establish the safety, pharmacokinetic parameters, maximum-tolerated dose, and recommended dose of aplidine, a novel marine cyclodepsipeptide, in patients with advanced cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using a modified Fibonacci method, we performed a phase I and pharmacokinetic study of aplidine administered as a 24-hour intravenous infusion every 2 weeks. RESULTS: Sixty-seven patients received aplidine at a dose ranging from 0.2 to 8 mg/m(2). Dose-limiting myotoxicity corresponding to grade 2 to 3 creatine phosphokinase elevation and grade 1 to 2 myalgia and muscle weakness occurred in two of six patients at 6 mg/m(2). No cardiac toxicity was observed. Electron microscopy analysis showed the disappearance of thick filaments of myosin. Grade 3 muscle toxicity occurred in three of 14 patients at the recommended dose of 5 mg/m(2) and seemed to be more readily reversible with oral carnitine (1 g/10 kg). Therefore, dose escalation was resumed using carnitine prophylactically, allowing an increase in the recommended dose to 7 mg/m(2). Other toxicities were nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, asthenia, and transaminase elevation with mild hematologic toxicity. Aplidine displayed a long half-life (21 to 44 hours), low clearance (45 to 49 L/h), and a high volume of distribution (1,036 to 1,124 L) with high interpatient variability in plasma, whereas in whole blood, clearance ranged from 3.0 to 6.2 L/h. Minor responses and prolonged tumor stabilizations were observed in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma. CONCLUSION: Muscle toxicity was dose limiting in this study. Recommended doses of aplidine were 5 and 7 mg/m(2) without and with carnitine, respectively. The role of carnitine will be further explored in phase II studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Intracranial arterial dolichoectasia and small-vessel disease in stroke patients.

Two studies found that stroke patients with intracranial arterial dolichoectasia (IADE) had lacunar infarction more often than the control subjects. The relation between IADE and other manifestations of small-vessel disease (multilacunar state, leukoaraiosis, and état criblé) was not investigated. The magnetic resonance images of 510 patients with brain infarction in the Etude du Profil Genetique de l'Infarctus Cerebral (GENIC) study were evaluated for the diagnosis of multilacunar infarction (>1 lacunar infarct), leukoaraiosis (assessed in periventricular and subcortical regions according to Scheltens and colleagues' scale, with severe leukoaraiosis defined as a score > 8), état criblé (using a semiquantitative score ranging from 0-8, with severe EC > 4), and IADE (using the consensus method). By comparison with stroke patients without IADE (n = 447), IADE(+) stroke patients (n = 63) had significantly more frequent multilacunar state (51 vs 33%), severe leukoaraiosis (34 vs 19%), and severe état criblé (32 vs 12%). After adjustment for potential confounding factors, the odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for the presence of IADE were 2.05 (1.08-3.87) for multilacunar state, 2.40 (1.11-5.20) for severe leukoaraiosis, and 3.60 (1.43-9.08) for severe état criblé. The factors significantly associated with état criblé were older age and a familial history of stroke. IADE in stroke patients was independently associated with parenchymal manifestations of small-vessel disease. These conditions may have in common underlying pathophysiological processes.

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PubMed2003

Intracranial arterial dolichoectasia and its relation with atherosclerosis and stroke subtype.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between intracranial arterial dolichoectasia (IADE) and vascular risk factors, atherosclerosis of the carotid arteries as measured by ultrasound scan, and stroke subtypes. METHODS: The sample consists of 510 consecutively recruited patients with brain infarction confirmed by MRI. The diagnosis of IADE was made by consensus between two neurologists based on MRI results. An independent reading of the 510 scans was made, with measurement of the diameter of the seven main intracranial arteries with a 16-diopter lens to validate the consensus and to better characterize patients with IADE. RESULTS: Sixty-three IADE(+) patients were identified by consensus (12%), of whom 59 (94%) had at least one intracranial artery in the fourth quartile of the distribution of diameters of intracranial arteries. Multivariate analyses found an association between IADE(+) and age (OR [95% CI] 1.04 [1.01-1.08]), male sex (3.31 [1.67-6.55]), hypertension (1.94 [1.01-3.72]), and previous myocardial infarction (2.68 [1.33-5.38]). There was no association between IADE and carotid atherosclerosis markers such as plaque or intima-media thickening. Lacunar infarct was more frequent in patients with IADE (36% versus 19%), with an adjusted OR of 2.89 (95% CI 1.29-6.46) compared with atherothrombotic infarct. CONCLUSIONS: IADE was associated with vascular risk factors such as age, male sex, hypertension, previous history of myocardial infarction, and lacunar infarct, but not with carotid atherosclerosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Nerve granulomas and vasculitis in sarcoid peripheral neuropathy: a clinicopathological study of 11 patients.

Peripheral neuropathy is a rare, yet treatable manifestation of sarcoidosis, a multisystem disorder characterized by the presence of non-caseating granulomas that are seldom found in nerve biopsy specimens. In order to learn more about the subject, we reviewed our clinical and pathological findings in a series of 11 patients (six men and five women aged 26-83 years) with symptomatic neuropathy associated with characteristic granulomas in nerve biopsy specimens. Only two patients were known to have sarcoidosis before the occurrence of the neuropathy. The neuropathy was focal or multifocal in six patients, including one with a multifocal neuropathy associated with conduction blocks, and one with a multifocal axonal motor deficit. Four patients had a distal symmetrical deficit and one patient had a Guillain-Barré-like syndrome with facial diplegia and respiratory failure. Serum angiotensin-converting enzyme concentration was elevated in only two patients. Epineurial granulomas and perineuritis were present in all nerve specimens. The inflammatory infiltrates invaded the endoneurium, following connective tissue septae and blood vessels, in five patients. Multinucleated giant cells were found in eight patients and necrotizing vasculitis in seven. Inflammatory lesions were associated with variable, asymmetrical involvement of nerve fascicles and axon loss. A muscle specimen was sampled during the same procedure in 10 patients. It showed inflammatory infiltrates and granulomas in nine patients and necrotizing vasculitis in two. Immunolabelling showed a mixed inflammatory infiltrate of T cells (predominantly CD4+ cells) and macrophages, in keeping with a delayed hypersensitivity reaction. In addition to nerve involvement, all patients had at least one other tissue or organ affected, including muscle in nine patients, lungs and/or intrathoracic lymph nodes in eight, skin in three, arthritis in two, and peripheral lymph nodes, stomach and eye in one patient each. Most patients improved on corticosteroids. Two patients remain free of symptoms after 7 years. Severe side-effects of long-term treatment with corticosteroids occurred in two patients, leading to death in one. This study illustrates the wide range of clinical manifestations of sarcoid neuropathy and the frequent association of granulomatous inflammatory infiltrates with necrotizing vasculitis and with silent or symptomatic involvement of other organs.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Longitudinal study of carotid atherosclerosis and white matter hyperintensities: the EVA-MRI cohort.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are often observed on cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of elderly individuals. Epidemiological studies have shown that age and hypertension are associated with WMHs, suggesting a vascular mechanism in WMH pathogenesis. In a population-based prospective study, we examined the association of carotid atherosclerosis measured at baseline and 4-year follow-up with severity of WMHs assessed at 4-year follow-up. METHODS: The sample consisted of 640 healthy subjects aged 59-71 years at entry enrolled in the prospective EVA Study. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured at each wave. Ultrasonographic measures of intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid arteries and plaques were made at baseline and at 4-year follow-up examination. An MRI examination was performed at 4-year follow-up. The presence and severity of WMHs were evaluated by a single radiologist. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, gender, and hypertension, the presence of carotid plaques at baseline was significantly associated with the presence of severe WMHs 4 years later [odds ratio (OR) = 1.70; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05-2.74]. The association was stronger in men than in women. A 0.1-mm increase of baseline IMT was associated with an increased risk of severe WMHs in both sexes (adjusted OR = 1.17; 95% CI: 0.96-1.41), but the association was not significant (p = 0.12). Cross-sectional relationships between carotid plaques and severe WMHs at 4-year follow-up showed that the risk of having severe WMHs was stronger in the group of subjects who had already plaques at study entry compared to the group of subjects whose plaques occurred during 4-year follow-up. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed an association between carotid atherosclerosis and WMHs independently of age and hypertension. It also suggested that the older the carotid plaques, the higher the risk of having severe WMHs.

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