[The body's external means of defense].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Frottier.
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After reviewing the physiopathology, the authors report the principal features of infectious arterial disease observed in a department of infectious diseases. Excluding iatrogenic arteritis, particularly after vascular surgery, and some vasculitis in which an infectious agent may play a role, only the classical but now rare causes are described: rickettsial disease, syphilis and typhoid. The most commonly observed problem at present is infectious aneurysms: primary aneurysms secondary to atherosclerosis in which salmonella is by far the predominant organism, before the staphylococci and streptococci. The most serious complication is the major risk of rupture which may be the presenting event. Secondary aneurysms are essentially those of endocarditis. The mechanism is not fully understood and they occur at different stages of the course of the disease. The main problem associated with these aneurysms is their multiplicity and localisation; the intracranial forms are the most common and most serious in the experience of the authors, with their difficulties of diagnosis and treatment: extracranial aneurysms are usually located in the main limb arteries. Adjacent secondary aneurysms are exceptionally rare. Tuberculous and viral causes of aneurysm are among the rarest etiologies discussed.
A case of acute aortic valve Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae endocarditis is reported in a 48 year old fisherman with no history of initial erysipelar and requiring emergency aortic valve replacement 48 hours after starting antibiotic therapy with Ampicillin and Gentamicin. The outcome was favourable. In the light of 32 of the 40 previously published cases, the authors discuss the difficulty in identifying the causal organism, the main epidemiological features, the occupational association of these infections, the incidence of primary infections, the involvement of the aortic valve and the more serious nature of the disease compared to non-D streptococcal endocarditis, despite high sensitivity to Penicillin G.
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Three cases of endocarditis due to Neisseria mucosa are reported. The pathogenic role of these commensal microorganisms is reviewed. A survey of the literature found a dozen cases of endocarditis due to commensal Neisseria before the antibiotic era, and fourteen more since then (not including our three observations). Some of distinctive features can be delineated from the study of cases seen during the second period. Patients mean age is fairly low (34 years), incidence of cutaneous manifestations is high, and vascular complications (mainly embolism) are common (52, 1% of the cases). Overall prognosis is good and the recovery rate (82 %) is similar to that seen in non-D Streptococcus endocarditis.
In a patients with P. falciparum malaria contracted in Thailand, the course of the disease under treatment suggested resistance to both chloroquine and pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine, as well as reduced sensitivity to quinine. This was confirmed by in vitro tests on continuous culture of the strain. Therapeutic success was obtained with a quinine-cycline combination. The problems raised by the emergence of P. Falciparum strains resistant to polychemotherapy are emphasized.
10 patients with septicaemia caused by enterobacteriaceae were successfully treated with cefotaxime. 9 patients had previously received unsuccessful antimicrobial therapy. The pathogen was resistant in vitro to other antibiotics. Cefotaxime was administered alone or in combination with an aminoglycoside. No severe side-effects were noted.
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Asiatic dengue was detected in nine tourists. In eight patients it was of the classical benign type, the ninth case being associated with severe thrombopenia (4 000/mm3), but without signs of shock. A brief summary is given of the physiopathology of the hemorrhagic forms of the disease: acquired sensitivity from a primary attack and reinfection with a heterologous virus; selection of virulent strains by an atypical vector; genetic recombination producing a strongly pathogenic virus.
The first case of legionnaires' disease indigenous to France is reported. Since rapid bacteriological and/or serological diagnostic procedures are lacking, the disease should be suspected clinically in patients presenting with febrile pneumonia typically associated with neurological, digestive and renal disorders. Antibiotic treatment with erythromycin should be initiated as early as possible.
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The authors have studied the rate of infection after 14000 orthopaedic interventions performed in the same hospital during the period between 1971 and 1978. 1020 of these were performed in a vertical air flow enclosure with a clearance of air at a rate of 425 times per hour. The others were performed in the conventional operating theatre with an air clearance of 22 times per hour. The density of particles was found to be 50 to 100 times lower at the level of the incision in cases operated on under vertical flow. Depsite this, the rate of infection was 0.7p. 100 in the conventional theatre and 1.4p. 100 in the vertical flow theatre. However, if the study was limited to hip prostheses (1382 cases), the rate of infection was about the same: 2,9p. 100 in conventional theatres and 3,2p. 100 in vertical flow enclosures. It is concluded that the role of a vertical air flow enclosure in decreasing the rate of post-operative infection in doubtful. The authors recall the effects of previous operations on liability to infection and consider that the use of cement may increase the incidence of infection. They advocate the use of cementless, self-locking total prostheses.
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