Biomedical subjects

M Thicoïpe

Publications and source records attributed to M Thicoïpe.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1992

Posttraumatic disablement: a prospective study of impairment, disability, and handicap.

This study was designed to evaluate both the frequency and the course of impairments, disabilities, and handicaps resulting from trauma. It was conducted in Aquitaine, France, on a sample of 1005 trauma patients (mean ISS, 10.5 +/- 0.3) in which severe trauma (ISS > 25) was rather overrepresented (169 of 1005). A prospective follow-up of disablement according to the WHO classification was based on medical examinations performed 6 and 12 months after the trauma. Of 664 survivors reviewed at 6 months, the findings were cross tabulated with Injury Severity Score (ISS) and age. There was a good relationship between ISS and the mean length of stay in the hospital (r = 0.46; p < 0.001), the duration of rehabilitation, and the time away from work or school. Out of this sample of 1005 patients with rather major injuries, 73% of the survivors suffered from at least one impairment, with a consistently lower frequency in children whatever the severity. At least one disability was encountered in 52.3% of these patients depending on both ISS and age. Handicap was noted in at least 26% of the cases. Between the sixth month and the end of the first year, the minimal handicap regression was 35.8%, whereas the minimal regression of the disability rate was 19.5%. The best improvement was observed essentially in the low ISS categories. Whereas for minor trauma the course of disablement seems to be fixed 1 year after the injury, such is not the case for severe trauma.

Absenteeism↗

PubMed1990

Thyroid function in brain-dead donors.

Twenty brain-dead potential organ donors were studied prospectively to establish thyroid function. Two or three consecutive blood samples were obtained during brain death. Seven times a sample was available before brain death occurred. Free triiodothyronine (FT3) fell in most patients (80%). Very low (less than 1.6 pmol/l) and subnormal levels (between 2 and 3 pmol/l) were found in 65% and 15% of the patients, respectively. Serum reverse total triiodothyronine (rT3) was inversely correlated with FT3. Free thyroxine (FT4) was less often decreased (mean 14.68 +/- 1.42 pmol/l) and 35% of the patients had normal levels. Mean thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) remained normal (0.71 +/- 0.15 microU/ml). The study of consecutive samples during brain death did not show a constant, progressive decrease in hormonal levels. There is no statistical difference between values observed before and after brain death. No correlation was found between FT3 levels and hemodynamic data or immediate allograft function. The pattern of thyroid function in these patients was typical of the sick euthyroid syndrome with a low T3 or low T3 and low T4 serum levels. This syndrome usually does not need to be treated. However, many experiment findings and some clinical data argue in favor of T3 therapy in donors and possibly in recipients. The dosage regimen must be adjusted to be effective without causing harm to multiorgan donors before it can be widely used. It remains to be proved that low FT3 serum indicates low intracellular FT3 and worse metabolic function in clinical conditions.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

[Hemodynamic, coagulation and glycoregulation changes induced by brain death].

Brain death results in various changes in circulation haemostasis, acid-base balance and glycoregulation. This study was carried out between February 1988 and December 1988 in 91 patients with brain death. Age range was between 6 and 58 years. The cause of brain death was brain trauma (71%) and vascular malformations (26%). In all patients a cardio-vascular collapse occurred at the moment of brain death, requiring an intravascular loading (466.3 +/- 240.3 ml.h-1) with crystalloids and albumin. Dopamine was used in 70% of cases at the dose of 3 micrograms.kg.min-1 to improve kidney and splanchnic perfusion. No alterations of acid-base balance were observed in these patients who admitted for organ donation in a short delay (17.1 +/- 6 h). Haemostasis was modified in all patients but the alterations occurred before the brain death and were related to brain injury. Further investigations are required for a better understanding of glycoregulation changes as they could influence pancreatic transplant survival. Hormonal changes have also to be more extensively studied for possible physiopathologic causes of the variations. A better understanding of these alterations will be of benefit for management of patients in brain death and potential organ donors.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

[Changes in intracranial pressure in severe head injured patients in hemodialysis].

Two cases of acute post-traumatic renal failure in severely head injured patients are reported. An increase in intracranial pressure (ICP) was shown up by continuous monitoring during haemodialysis: it was more important during conventional haemodialysis than during continuous arteriovenous haemofiltration. Although this effect is well known experimentally, few cases of continuous ICP pressure monitoring have been reported in head injury patients undergoing haemodialysis. The increase in ICP is explained in the dog as a result of blood-brain differences in urea concentration and osmolality leading to an increase in cerebral spinal fluid volume and cerebral tissue swelling. If dialysis is necessary in these patients, it should be carried out early and progressively, the patient's ICP being monitored continuously.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

PubMed1988

[Post-traumatic cerebral fat embolism].

A seventeen year old boy sustained pelvic, femoral shaft and malleolar fractures in a road traffic accident. Six hours after admission, the patient became comatose (Glasgow coma score = 7); the coma worsened such that, 24 h later, the coma score was 4. Petechiae were present on the conjunctiva and anterior chest wall. Computed tomography revealed diffuse brain swelling. The diagnosis of cerebral fat embolism was made. There were multiple episodes of severe intracranial hypertension. After 23 days of traction, the femoral fracture was internally fixed. The patient returned home after five months of hospital, with just a few memory and writing problems. Ten months after the accident, magnetic resonance imaging showed a small ventricular dilatation due to subcortical atrophy. Residual ischaemic lesions and demyelination could be seen in the right centrum ovale and temporal lobe. The cerebral lesions contrast with the reversibility of the clinical state.

Adolescent↗