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Biomedical subjects

M Biour

Publications and source records attributed to M Biour.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid therapy of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis: a prospective study of twenty-seven cases in cirrhotic patients.

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in cirrhosis is a serious complication that demands urgent attention. We report here a prospective study of the treatment of 27 episodes of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in 22 cirrhotic patients with amoxicillin and clavulanic acid. The infection of ascitic fluid was diagnosed by a positive culture plus an ascitic neutrophil count exceeding 75/microliters, or by an ascitic neutrophil count exceeding 500/microliters. The infection was treated with 1 gm amoxicillin and 0.2 gm clavulanic acid every 6 hr for 14 days. In 17 cases (63%), bacteria were isolated from the ascitic fluid. All the bacteria isolated were sensitive to amoxicillin and clavulanic acid, whereas in five cases they were resistant to amoxicillin alone (Escherichia coli in two cases, Klebsiella pneumoniae in two cases and Bacteroides fragilis in one case). Cure of the infection was achieved in 23 episodes (85%) after 14 days' treatment; 17 patients (63%) were able to leave the hospital. Fourteen of 20 patients (70%) treated for the first episode of infection died within 1 yr: eight from infection, two from gastrointestinal hemorrhage, one from infection and hemorrhage and three from tumors. One patient who had repeated infections underwent liver transplantation and has not had any infectious complications 1.5 yr after surgery. Amoxicillin and clavulanic acid may be an effective first-line therapy for ascitic fluid infection in cirrhosis. Nevertheless, the 1-yr prognosis continues to be grave and the severity of the underlying liver disease remains the most important determinant for survival.

Adult↗

Comparison of the cardiac electrophysiological effects of flecainide and hydroquinidine in anesthetized dog: concentration-response relationship.

The concentration-dependent effects of flecainide and hydroquinidine were studied in closed-chest anesthetized dogs. The electrophysiological effects of three doses (i.v. infusions followed by an appropriate perfusion to plateau the plasma levels) of flecainide (1, 2, and 3.9 mg/kg) and hydroquinidine (2, 4, 7.5 mg/kg) were tested. Sinus cycle length, QRS duration, His-Purkinje and AV nodal conduction times, Wenckebach period, atrial, nodal, and ventricular refractory periods, and corrected QT interval were measured before and 30 min after the beginning of each bolus infusion. Both hydroquinidine and flecainide increased the sinus cycle length, and slowed cardiac conduction to different degrees. Hydroquinidine and flecainide prolonged ventricular conduction; flecainide had a greater effect at the His-Purkinje level. Hydroquinidine exhibited only a weak and nonsignificant effect at the AV node, whereas flecainide dramatically prolonged conduction and refractoriness. The two drugs increased AERP equally. The QT interval and ventricular refractoriness were similarly prolonged to the same extent by both drugs (32 and 35% after the third doses of hydroquinidine and flecainide, respectively). The high plasma flecainide levels reached in our study (1.47 and 2.9 micrograms/ml after the second and third doses, respectively) may explain these effects, which are unexpected for a class Ic agent. These results suggest that flecainide could increase the QT interval, like a class Ia drug when its plasma level exceeds the therapeutic range.

Anesthesia↗

Comparative hemodynamic study of a new aminosteroid: LND-623 with its 20 alpha-isomer: LND-369, and with digoxin and digoxigenin-rhamnoside in the anesthetized dog.

Hemodynamic effects of LND-623, a new aminosteroid lacking the C17 lactone ring and the C14 hydroxyl group common to the natural glycosides, were studied in the pentobarbital-anesthetized dog and compared to those of its 20 alpha-isomer LND-369 and of digoxin and digoxigenin-rhamnoside (DRh). Twenty-four mongrel dogs were divided into 4 groups. Group I received either LND-623 or saline on study day 1 and the other drug or saline 1 wk later. Saline was replaced by digoxin in group II, digoxigenin-rhamnoside in group III, and LND-369 in group IV. All drugs except LND-369 were infused as 3.10(-9) mol.kg-1.min-1 over 20 minutes. LND-369 was infused at twice the dose. LND-623 increased left ventricular dP/dt for at least 3 h with a peak at end-infusion or 15 min later, accompanied by a transient vasopressor effect. LND-369 induced, at twice the dose, an inotropic effect of comparable magnitude but of shorter duration. Inversely, it provoked a more marked and prolonged vasopressor effect than its 20 beta-isomer, LND-623. Maximal digoxin inotropic effect occurred later but was of comparable magnitude to that induced by LND-623. Its vasopressor effects reached a plateau rapidly and remained sustained until min 200. Digoxigenin-rhamnoside inotropic but not vasopressor effects are weaker than those of LND-623. It is concluded that LND-623, although lacking the most common structural features of the natural cardiac glycosides, provoked rapid and sustained inotropic activities with transient vasopressor effects. These time-course effects differ from digoxin, and these differences are unrelated to their sugar-moiety characteristics. LND-623 inotropic effect is twice as potent as its 20 alpha-isomer.

Anesthesia↗

[Cough provoked by angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. Effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents].

Cough is a well recognised though undesirable side effect during the course of treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (IEC). With the help of two examples we have tried to show that this cough does not have an immunological origin but rather pharmacological. Cough was suppressed by non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Stemming from these observations and from two studies in the literature a patho-physiological mechanism for the cough is proposed in which treatment with IEC leads to a connection with prostaglandins, notably bronchial PGE2.

Aged↗