PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

H Vinti

Publications and source records attributed to H Vinti.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

In the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy, why are HIV-infected patients still admitted to hospital for an inaugural opportunistic infection?

OBJECTIVES: To identify factors related to delayed testing, and delayed or interrupted care-seeking or treatment uptake, among HIV-infected patients. DESIGN: HIV-infected patients hospitalized for an opportunistic infection (OI) cases were included in a prospective study and compared with controls matched by age and sex who had regular follow-up and treatment. Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire about their therapeutic itinerary and their socioeconomic, psychological and medical characteristics. RESULTS: Seventy patients were matched with 140 controls. According to their therapeutic itinerary prior to admission, cases were subdivided into four groups among which three will be more particularly studied: nontested patients (NT) (24%; n=17), known HIV-infected patients with no medical follow-up (NF) (30%; n=21); and noncompliant patients (NC) (36%, n=25). Characteristics of NT and NF patients included a predominantly sexual mode of contamination (P=0.01), continuing occupational activity (P=0.01) despite a low mean Karnofsky index (P=0.001) and unfavourable virological and immunological parameters. NT patients displayed a low degree of anxiety, and lacked awareness concerning risk of contamination and HIV-related symptoms. HIV-status announcement (P=0.04) and the benefits of medical follow-up (P=0.05) were less favourably perceived by NF patients than by controls, and were associated with a high degree of anxiety in NF patients. NC patients had a weaker commitment to follow-up and treatment, and more frequent treatment discontinuation associated with a higher rate of interruption of follow-up in a context of social difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: Patients ignorant of their HIV status, patients NF and NC have very specific characteristics. More appropriate approaches are needed regarding screening and access to care in order to reduce the incidence of delayed care-seeking.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1994

[Kaposi disease and sex hormones: apropos of a case, review of the literature].

The authors report one case of AIDS-related-like Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in a 59-year-old bisexual man without HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection. KS developed while the patient was receiving both androgen and steroid therapy for aplastic anemia, and regressed after their simultaneous interruption, despite the persistence of aplastic anemia. The authors discuss the etiology of KS in the patient, with a special regard to a putative role of the androgen therapy. The authors examine the arguments of the literature, probably underestimated, that may suggest a role of sex hormones in the pathogenesis of KS.

Anemia, Aplastic↗
PubMed1991

[Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in elderly subjects].

During an 8-year period, 35 patients aged over 60 and presenting with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura were observed. At the time of diagnosis, 51.5 percent had haemorrhages which were major in 26 percent of the cases. Response to various treatments, notably corticosteroid therapy, was weak (43 percent). During the course of the disease, 2 patients (5.7 percent) died of cerebral haemorrhage. This series confirms the importance of haemorrhagic syndrome and the resistance to treatment of the elderly as opposed to younger subjects. This is probably due to the heterogeneity of purpura in old age: in a number of patients purpura corresponded to refractory chronic thrombocytopenia or to chronic thrombocytopenia associated with carcinoma.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗