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Biomedical subjects

G Hermans

Publications and source records attributed to G Hermans.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

[Work with visual demands. Assumption of responsibility for optical correction by the employer].

Comparison of visual demands of work in a traditional office to those of work in an office equiped with a screen. Description of problems of vision when focusing the eye to various distances and fixing it in various directions. Range of possibilities for optical correction for work with a screen (monofocal, bifocal, progressive or for reading), specifying among the optical corrections those which are exclusively reserved for this activity and should become the employer's responsibility.

Aging↗
PubMed2004

[Information for the patient regarding consent clarification both before and after...].

The provision of information to the patient begins before the consultation. The doctor's duty to inform the patient starts with the consultation and continues until after the medical act. The person responsible to provide information, the kind of information that needs to be provided, the moment when such information needs to be given and proofs that information has been given are all discussed. Valuable information is the basis of informed consent.

Cataract↗
PubMed2004

[Patient access to the medical file].

A new law regulates the access of the patients to their medical files in Belgium. The authors discuss the implications of this law for everyday medical practice.

Belgium↗
PubMed2002

[Chronic thoracic pain].

The etiological diagnosis of chronic thoracic pain is wide, from benign mechanical disorders to tumors. Reaching the exact diagnosis in often time consuming. Despite the availability of new techniques of imagery, a meticulous clinical history and physical examination remain mandatory. They will lead the exploration. Idiopathic intercostal neuralgia does not exist.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Myelin reactive T cells after T cell vaccination in multiple sclerosis: cytokine profile and depletion by additional immunizations.

Pathogenic autoreactive T cells can be targeted by T cell vaccination (TCV), a procedure in which patients are immunized with autologous attenuated pathogenic T cells. We reported previously that TCV with myelin basic protein (MBP) reactive T cell clones in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients induced T cell immune responses, resulting in a clonal depletion of MBP reactive T cells in all patients. Five years after TCV, MBP reactive T cells were observed in five out of nine MS patients. These clones had a different clonal origin from those isolated before vaccination. We have studied the cytokine profile, cytotoxicity and epitope specificity of these reappearing clones. Our data indicate that the clones express similar effector functions as those isolated before TCV, suggesting that they also could play a pathogenic role in the disease. We demonstrated that these clones can be depleted by an additional sequence of immunizations. These findings may be relevant to other T cell targeted immunotherapies for MS and other autoimmune diseases.

Clone Cells↗
PubMed1999

Cellular and humoral immune responses against autoreactive T cells in multiple sclerosis patients after T cell vaccination.

Myelin basic protein (MBP)-reactive T cells may play an important role in the autoimmune pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). MBP-reactive T cells can be specifically targeted by T cell vaccination, a procedure whereby MS patients are immunized with attenuated autologous MBP reactive T cells. T cell vaccination induces immune responses to the vaccine cells together with a depletion of MBP reactive T cells. Forty-nine MS patients were treated with T cell vaccination in an extended phase I trial to study the safety, immune responses and clinical effects of T cell vaccination. In the present paper the immune responses towards the vaccine cells were characterized. Substantial long-term in vitro proliferative responses were observed in all treated patients. Some patients, immunized with different clones, displayed distinct proliferative reactivity against the various vaccine clones, suggesting unequal immunogenic properties of these clones. Reactive TCRalphabeta(+), CD8(+)and CD4(+)T cells, and to a lesser extent, gammadelta T cells and NK cells were observed to in vitro stimulation with the vaccine cells. A small fraction only of CD8(+)T cells expressed cytolytic and inhibitory anti-clonotypic reactivity against the vaccine cells. Stimulation with the vaccine clones predominantly induced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in these mixed cultures, although one vaccine clone consistently induced production of IL-4. CD4(+)T cells are the major cytokine-producing cells in these anti-vaccine lines. We could not detect upregulated antibody responses to the vaccine cells in most patients, although a temporary antibody response was observed in one patient. In conclusion, immunization with attenuated autoreactive T cells induces a complex cellular response specifically targeted at the vaccine cells, but no antibody responses. These data provide further insights into the mechanisms of T cell vaccination and improve our understanding of the complex regulatory networks of autoreactive T cells.

Antibody Formation↗
PubMed1999

Successful treatment of pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis with progestins: a case report.

The diagnostic approach, clinical evolution, and treatment of a patient with primary pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis are reported. This patient presented a restrictive respiratory syndrome resistant to conventional glucocorticoid therapy. The diagnosis, based on clinical and histologic examinations, was confirmed by immunohistochemical localization of one of the desmins, the smooth muscle cell actin, and HMB45 antigen. The patient received treatment with an anti-estrogenic agent (tamoxifen citrate) and high doses of medroxyprogesterone acetate, an antigonadotropic progestin. Respiratory function improved rapidly with clinical relief.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Gammadelta T cell responses to activated T cells in multiple sclerosis patients induced by T cell vaccination.

To explore the hypothesis that gammadelta T cells may regulate activated alphabeta T cells, we studied gammadelta T cell responses to alphabeta T cell clones in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients who received attenuated autologous autoreactive T cells. We recently conducted a pilot study of T cell vaccination with myelin basic protein reactive T cells in MS. Since T cell vaccination upregulates the anti-vaccine T cell responses, we evaluated gammadelta T cell reactivity towards the vaccine in the vaccinated patients. Lymphocytes were stimulated in vitro with irradiated vaccine cells and the responding lines were checked for the presence of gammadelta T cells. Our data demonstrate that in the majority of vaccinated MS patients gammadelta T cells expand upon stimulation with the vaccine cells. The responding gammadelta T cells were predominantly Vdelta1+/Vgamma1+, and represented diverse clonal origins. The gammadelta T cells could not inhibit in vitro proliferation of the vaccine T cells and displayed low cytotoxic reactivity towards the vaccine clones. However, they produced high levels of IL2, TNFalpha and IL10. These results indicate that gammadelta T cells can be stimulated by activated alphabeta T cells, and that these gammadelta T cell responses are upregulated after T cell vaccination. These findings suggest that gammadelta T cells are involved in peripheral mechanisms to control activated autoreactive T cells.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1997

Cytokine profile of myelin basic protein-reactive T cells in multiple sclerosis and healthy individuals.

Myelin basic protein (MBP)-reactive T cells have been implicated in the autoimmune pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). In this study, we examined the cytokine profile of 531 primary MBP-reactive T-cell lines and 72 independently established clones from 32 patients with MS and 18 healthy controls (NS) by using highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. An increased number of primary T-cell lines producing interferon-gamma (IFN gamma) and/or interleukin-4 (IL-4) in response to MBP were found in patients with MS compared with controls. No distinct Th1 or Th2 subtypes could be demonstrated among the MBP-reactive clones. IL-4 was more frequently observed among MS-derived clones. Clones derived from MS patients produced increased levels of IL-2, IL-4, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha), IFN gamma, and IL-10, but not IL-6. It is interesting that MBP-reactive T cells from MS patients expressing the disease-associated HLA-DRB1*15 allele produced increased quantities of TNF alpha, a cytokine suggested to play an important role in inflammation and demyelination. When challenged with either MBP or a bacterial superantigen, the clones expressed similar levels of the proinflammatory cytokine IFN gamma. Our study suggests a functional difference in T-cell responses to MBP in patients with MS compared with healthy individuals, and provides further insights into the role of MBP-reactive T cells and their cytokine profile in the inflammatory processes of MS.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Clear cell sarcoma: an extremely rare cause of pleural disease.

We present the case of a 36 yr old woman with a persisting complaints of left chest pain. A chest radiograph revealed multiple left pleural thickenings. Classical exploration was negative. Thoracic surgery allowed the subtotal removal of a huge pleural tumour. The histological examination revealed a clear cell sarcoma. The literature on this extremely rare tumour is reviewed.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

[Optical correction for presbyopia patients using computer terminals].

The study of the ergonomic conditions of office work with a computer screen, the study of the workstation, the nature of the tasks carried out and the knowledge of the visual possibilities of the user allow various optical corrections to be envisaged for this activity. Indications for monofocal, bifocal, trifocal and progressive lenses are envisaged. Optical corrections designed only for work with a screen are described.

Accommodation, Ocular↗
PubMed1997

[Protective eyeglasses].

Reminder of the materials used for the manufacture of corrective lenses. Belgian statistics concerning eye accidents at work and European legislation concerning the prevention of eye accidents, personal protective equipment, P.P.E. Eye protection for sports.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1990

Primary pulmonary hemangiopericytoma: early local recurrence after perioperative rupture of the giant tumor mass (two cases).

We report two recent observations of giant hemangiopericytoma of the lung, one in a 4-year-old child and another in a 65-year-old man. There were no specific clinical signs, but the radiologic appearance was rather characteristic in both cases, as were the histologic findings. Pneumonectomy was carried out, complicated in each case by rupture of the fragile, incomplete pseudocapsule and diffuse dissemination of necrotic tumor tissue in the operative field and opposite bronchial tree. Outcome was fatal in both cases within a few months, with extensive, rapidly growing metastases in the subcutaneous scar tissue of the thoracotomy and in the other lung and in one case with diffuse diaphragmatic and intraabdominal metastases. These two observations will offer some guidelines for better understanding of this rare localization of hemangiopericytoma, its natural history, and its optimal treatment, with special reference to the malignant potential and local recurrence rate.

Aged↗