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Biomedical subjects

L Luquel

Publications and source records attributed to L Luquel.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

[Referral of vulnerable patients: new professional strategies].

Nowadays hospitals are facing their responsibilities with necessitous patients care, in terms of social protection issues, adequate practice behaviours and professional challenges. The humanitarian aid new wave and innovative social interventions partially explain the success of some militant professionals. An historical approach ambulatory care facilities for deprived people and biographical interviews of health and social professionals show three logics: humanistic motivation, ethical responsibility and media-political charism. In spite of differences in careers promotion, field actors are volunteers to develop together new socially oriented strategies.

Ambulatory Care↗

Four markers of collagen metabolism as possible indicators of disease in the adult respiratory distress syndrome.

During the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), an irreversible fibrotic process can occur extremely rapidly. To establish indices of ARDS in pneumonia as well as the severity of the lung fibrosis, we have undertaken for the first time a study of four markers of collagen metabolism obtained from both bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and serum: Type I (CI), Type III (CIII), N-terminal peptide of Type III procollagen (PIIINP), and galactosylhydroxylysylglucosyltransferase activity (GGT). We studied 61 patients (13 coma controls, 29 with pneumonia, and 19 with ARDS). In BALF, the average values of CI, CIII, PIIINP, and GGT were significantly higher in ARDS than in the control patients. The values for patients with pneumonia, although increased, were significantly lower than those in ARDS for CI, CIII, and PIIINP. In serum, the mean CI and PIIINP were significantly increased in pneumonia and ARDS, but the mean CIII was significantly increased only in ARDS compared with the control group. Significant positive linear correlations were observed for ARDS between CI and CIII or PIIINP and CIII in BALF and serum. Such correlations were observed for pneumonia only in serum. Molecular mass determinations demonstrated that CI- and CIII-related antigens in BALF were essentially intact triple helices of collagens or procollagens. Among patients with histologically defined interstitial fibrosis, the level of PIIINP in BALF was significantly higher for those with an additional intraalveolar fibrosis. In conclusion, measurements of these collagen markers may be useful for assessing disease activity and reflecting the flux of collagen molecules in the lung.

Adult↗

[Ostial stenosis of the left main coronary artery after mediastinal radiotherapy. Apropos of a case].

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a well-known complication of mediastinal irradiation. We report a case of subocclusive ostial stenosis of the left main coronary artery, in a 27 years old man, who had been irradiated 14 years before for a stage 4 Hodgkin's disease. Among the 68 reported cases of CAD attributed to radiotherapy, 11 involved an ostial stenosis of either right coronary artery, or left main coronary artery or both. Thus mediastinal irradiation seems to be a definite cause of ostial coronary artery stenosis; several types of myocardial revascularization have been suggested for this kind of CAD.

Adult↗

[Specificity and serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor in septic shock].

Several lines of evidence implicate tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a cytokine produced by monocytes-macrophages, in the systemic manifestations of shock induced by Gram-negative bacteria. Whether the increase of circulating TNF levels is specific to septic shock as compared to sepsis without shock or to non-septic shock is still unclear. Since TNF values recorded at the time of admission to the hospital vary widely, statistical analysis has not been possible. Therefore, we postulated that the evolution of a patient's TNF serum level as compared to his initial value may better distinguish the survivor from the non-survivor than a single initial determination. Using a radioimmunoassay, we measured the TNF concentrations in the sera of 7 patients with severe infections without shock, 16 patients with septic shock and 8 patients with non-septic shock. Blood samples were drawn within the first 12 hours after the onset of shock. Patients with cancer, HIV infection, or under steroid therapy were excluded. Repeated measurements were made during the first 3 days of septic shock in 10 patients. The circulating TNF level, determined upon admission, appears to be neither specific nor predictive of the outcome of septic shock. In contrast, persistently high levels of circulating TNF seem to be well correlated with a poor prognosis, since 5 out of 6 patients with elevated TNF values died of septic shock.

Adult↗

Pharmacokinetics of intravenous salbutamol in renal insufficiency and its biological effects.

Salbutamol was administered intravenously to 5 patients with renal function impairment for estimation its pharmacokinetic parameters. The mean terminal half-life was 256 min, similar to previously reported values in healthy adults. The mean clearance (167 ml/min) and the mean volume of distribution (551) were decreased. These parameters were not correlated with the creatinine clearance. A slight but significant decrease was observed in the plasma potassium level up to 125 min after the salbutamol infusion. The heart rate was significantly increased, and the increase in 3 patients was correlated with the salbutamol concentration. The biological effects of the drug were less marked than expected.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

Hemodynamic tolerance and plasma volume variations during plasma exchange. Replacement fluid: albumin alone or albumin plus gelatin?

Little is known about mechanisms of systemic hypotension frequently reported during plasma exchange (PE). Type of substitution fluids may interfere with hemodynamic tolerance. In a prospective study, right heart catheterization was performed during 18 PE by filtration with isovolumic substitution. Blood volume was measured with 51Cr tagged erythrocytes and plasma volume (PV) calculated from hematocrit. Substitution fluids were either albumin (A; n = 9) or A + gelatin (A + G; n = 9). In both groups, PE induces significant (p less than 0.01) decreases of mean arterial pressure: group A: - 21 +/- 14%; group A + G: - 23 +/- 15%; of pulmonary wedge pressure: group A: - 41 +/- 33%; group A + G: - 36 +/- 22%; of cardiac index: group A: - 38 +/- 18%; group A + G: - 25 +/- 15%. Plasma volume also decreases after PE: group A: - 13.5 +/- 4%; group A + G: - 18.5 +/- 4%. None of the variations are significantly different between the two groups. So we think that substitution with albumin alone has no advantage for hemodynamic tolerance.

Albumins↗