Biomedical subjects

G Bitar

Publications and source records attributed to G Bitar.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

[Results of percutaneous coronary intervention in a hospital with a low case load].

Since efficacy of small volume centers performing coronary and angioplasty is questioned, we present our data for 2003. In 2003, 669 coronary examinations were performed in our unit (average age 68 years, 67% men) with 215 angioplasties. We take charge essentially Acute Coronary Syndrome (99%), with 37% ACS ST +. The radical approach was taken in 15% of cases. We used anti GP IIb/IIIa in 67% of cases (only abciximab), the rate of stenting was 84% with 43.6% of Direct Stenting. The primary angiographic results were good in 98% of cases. The rate of Restenosis was 6%. The hospital mortality was 2.8%. So we think that coronary and angioplasty in a small volume center can be performed with safety and a level of success in accordance with the data of the literature.

Abciximab↗

PubMed2001

Human S-antigen determinant recognition in uveitis.

PURPOSE: Soluble antigen (S-Ag) is a member of the arrestin family of protein with which it shares a high level of homology. It is an immunologically privileged retinal antigen that can elicit experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) and is thought to be a target for ocular inflammatory diseases. This study was conducted to identify in humans, the immunogenic determinants of human S-Ag and to establish whether a specific response profile occurs in particular ocular inflammatory conditions. METHODS: Peripheral blood lymphocyte responses were measured against a panel of 40 overlapping synthetic peptides of human S-Ag in patients with chronic uveitis and compared with control subjects. Patients with Behçet disease, sarcoidosis, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada, and sympathetic ophthalmia were tested. RESULTS: A limited number of immunodominant determinants were identified for Behçet disease and sarcoidosis. These were all located at sites of limited homology with other known arrestins. In addition, several individual patients had prominent proliferative responses to multiple determinants well above that of control subjects. This determinant spread was observed in all disease entities except sympathetic ophthalmia, which did not show any immunoreactivity to S-Ag. Significant response shifts were also noted over time in two patients. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that there are specific immunodominant determinants to human S-Ag in patients with certain forms of uveitis. However, in individual patients, response is not limited to these determinants. In the chronic stage of disease, response is spread over many determinants.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Balloon versus patch angioplasty as an adjuvant treatment to surgical thrombectomy of hemodialysis grafts.

BACKGROUND: Transluminal balloon angioplasty offers advantages to patch angioplasty. We evaluated the primary patency of thrombosed hemodialysis grafts that had undergone balloon angioplasty versus patch angioplasty as a salvage method. METHODS: We reviewed our experience with 22 consecutive intraoperative balloon angioplasties that were done in a 6-months period. The balloons used were noncompliant high pressure balloons. The balloon results were compared with those of 22 patients who had undergone patch angioplasties by the same surgeons. Age, gender, average time between graft insertion and revision, and number of prior revisions were analyzed. The two groups (patch and balloon) had similar ages (57 versus 58 years, respectively), gender distribution (12 women, 11 men versus 11 women and 11 men), average time of revisions before that particular procedure (15 versus 12 months), and average times of revisions before that procedure. RESULTS: Primary patencies of the patch and balloon group were respectively 86% versus 77% at 1 month, 45% versus 40% at 3 months, and 17% versus 28% at 6 months. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Complications were comparable in both groups. CONCLUSION: Balloon angioplasty offers advantages to patch angioplasty, and we have shown similar patency rates. We recommend balloon angioplasty as a comparable method to salvage dialysis access grafts.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

[Myocardial diverticulum of the left ventricle. Review of the literature apropos of a case].

Left ventricular myocardial diverticular rare, as they represent 0.05% of all forms of diagnosed congenital heart disease. The circumstances of diagnosis are as variable as the multiplicity of symptoms with which they are associated. Consequently, treatments (or very often conservative management) are also varied and a standardized procedure has not been defined in this field, apart from a common sense approach.

Cardiomyopathies↗

PubMed1996

[Spontaneous dissection of coronary arteries. Apropos of 2 new cases with favourable course].

The authors report two new cases of spontaneous coronary dissection and discuss the real frequency of this disease as well as their generally reported poor prognosis. One case was a 32-year-old female migraine-sufferer treated by beta-blockers, who developed a rudimentary anterior myocardial infarction. The other case was a 43-year-old man who presented with a threatened anterior myocardial infarction without myolysis documented by cardiac enzymes. Both patients were smokers and both had an excellent outcome, clinically and on stress tests, with a follow-up on medical treatment alone of thirty months for the first case and fourteen months for the second case. These two new cases had a good prognosis, in contrast with the majority of cases published.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Human S-antigen: presence of multiple immunogenic and immunopathogenic sites in the Lewis rat.

To identify the immunogenic and immunopathogenic sites present in human S-Antigen (S-Ag), 40 overlapping peptides that span the whole length of the S-Ag molecule were synthesized and tested in the Lewis rat model of experimental autoimmune uveitis. The most pathogenic sequences were 180-200, 340-360 and 350-370. Ten peptide sequences were identified that induced visible inflammation in the eye. A total of 23 peptides gave an in-vitro proliferative response following immunization in animals. The ability to generate an immune response was not linked to the pathogenic capacity of the sequence. The most pathogenic sequence, 340-360, was only weakly proliferative. Peptide 180-200 and peptide 340-360 gave higher T-cell proliferative responses, but these were lower than the maximal proliferative response observed with non-pathogenic sequences. In animals immunized with whole S-Ag, the majority of the determinants did not elicit a proliferative response, indicating that in S-Ag, the majority of the immunogenic determinants are cryptic and are not presented by the APC located in the lymph nodes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗