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P Legmann

Publications and source records attributed to P Legmann.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

[Magnetic resonance imaging of malignant hepatic tumors in adults].

Recently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) had an important place in imaging techniques of malignant primitive tumors of the liver. For many authors, this technique appears as the reference modality for hepatic tumor evaluation. Nevertheless, MRI is considered to be primarily a problem-solving rather than a screening modality. This specific goal of this technique is due to a more precise characterization of the lesions compared to other imaging modalities. The authors, according to recent data in literature and their own experience, present MRI findings of the more frequent malignant hepatic tumors encountered in adult.

Adenoma, Bile Duct

[Role of MRI in the diagnosis of endocrine tumors of the pancreas].

Eight patients affected with endocrine tumor of the pancreas were examined, within the same period of time, by MRI and CT. Results from those two examinations were similar for the detection of the primary tumor (succeeding to visualize the lesion 5 times out of 8) and the evaluation of locoregional and vascular extension. No tumor smaller than 3 cm was diagnosed by MRI. Most of cases the pancreatic tumor appeared as hypointense in T1 and hyperintense in T2 sequences. MRI was a little more efficient than CT for the detection of liver metastases. MRI seems to be an interesting method for the follow-up of those patients needing a regular and prolonged surveillance after primary tumor ablation.

Adenoma, Islet Cell

Preoperative computed tomography for transhiatal esophagectomy.

We report the results of a retrospective evaluation of preoperative chest computed tomography (CT) in 50 consecutive patients with esophageal carcinoma confirmed surgically. Forty patients underwent transhiatal esophagectomy without thoracotomy. In ten cases, blunt dissection of the esophageal carcinoma was impossible because of involvement of an adjacent organ. Transhiatal esophagectomy carries lower morbidity and mortality rates than the standard thoracotomy procedure, although long-term survival is considered to be the same with either method. The overall sensitivity of CT in detecting involvement of an adjacent organ, thus contraindicating the transhiatal procedure, was 90%, with an overall specificity of 92%. The positive predictive value was 75%, and the negative predictive value 89%. The negative predictive value of CT for tracheobronchial invasion, the main surgical risk in the transhiatal procedure, was 90%. A negative preoperative CT appears to be a reliable indicator for patients undergoing transhiatal esophagectomy.

Adenocarcinoma

[Rectal stenosis. A rare complication of chronic salpingitis caused by an intrauterine device].

The authors describe one case of rectal stenosis complicating chronic salpingitis in a patient carrying an intrauterine device. This observation is peculiar in that the inflammatory fibrous reaction is very intense, spreading all over the pelvis and forming a pseudotumoral mass sheathing the rectum. The clinical signs were mainly digestive, including a rectal syndrome: cramplike pelvic pain before defecation, tenesmus, constipation, abdominal pain and induration of the anterior aspect of the rectum observed during the clinical examination. Radiological examinations (barium enema, ultrasound, CT) show a tissue mass within the pelvis, with considerable thickening of the rectal wall. Ultrasound-guided biopsy in the pelvis yielded only nonspecific inflammatory signs with dominant fibrosis. The diagnosis of rectal stenosis caused by chronic salpingitis complicating the presence of an IUD was made only during surgery.

Adult

[Diagnosis of glucagonoma. Value of scanning, echography and arteriography. Apropos of 2 cases and a review of the literature].

The authors report two cases of glucagonoma, a rare endocrine tumor of the pancreas, and describe the data currently found in literature. Glucagonoma is a single and usually large tumor, which develops in the alpha cells of the islets of Langerhans and evolves slowly. The combination of characteristic skin lesions, diabetes and weight loss should lead to searching for hyperglucagonemia and for the pancreatic tumor. The diagnosis is usually made rather late, average evolution is five years before diagnosis when it is detected. Imaging, in particular ultrasound and computed tomography (CT), proves to be necessary for the positive diagnosis of glucagonoma as it localizes the pancreatic mass and plays a role in local assessment, thus providing guidance for surgery. The role of imaging is also fundamental for the detection of metastases, which are the only sign of malignancy as no criterion of benignity is found for this tumor.

Adenoma, Islet Cell

[Echographic study of gallbladder contraction: normal and pathologic aspects. Apropos of 115 patients].

The gallbladder volume was measured on abdominal ultrasonography in 115 patients consisting of three population groups, before and after ingestion of a fatty meal and/or intravenous administration of cholecystokinin. The variation in volume, estimated as a percentage, was used to assess gallbladder contraction. The first group, consisting of 40 normal individuals without gallstones or impaired gallbladder or hepatic function, can be considered to constitute a control group. In this population, gallbladder contraction exceeded 50% in every case. The second group consisted of 40 cases of acute cholecystitis, including 30 cases with acute gallstones and 10 cases of stone-free acute cholecystitis proven surgically (7 cases) or by guided aspiration (3 cases). Gallbladder contraction was less than 15% in every case. Lastly, a third group of 35 patients with uncomplicated gallstones discovered on routine ultrasonography, demonstrated gallbladder contraction of between 10 and 85%. In this last group, 12 patients with vague gastrointestinal symptoms and gallbladder contraction less than 15% were operated: the histological results demonstrated severe lesions of chronic gallstone cholecystitis. The authors believe that absent or weak gallbladder contraction after endogenous stimulation is a supplementary sign to be taken into consideration in a context suggestive of the diagnosis of acute stone-free cholecystitis and to suggest, in the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms not directly related to the gallbladder, the hypothesis of chronic gallstone cholecystitis.

Acute Disease

[Polysulfates, anionic detergents, sodium phosphotungstate and electrophoretic mobility of plasmatic proteins].

Anions with strong electro-negative charges, like sulphuric esters of polysaccharides (heparin, dextran sulphate M.W. 15 00), the sodium salt of polyanethol sulfonic acid (liquoid, Roche), anionic detergents (sodium dodecylsulphate, sodium oleate, sodium deoxycholate), and the sodium salt of phosphotungstic acid were added to human serum or citrated plasma. For each compound several final concentrations were adopted, the highest being 4%. By using microimmunoelectrophoresis and numerous specific antisera against human plasma proteins, it was demonstrated that at pH 8.60 anions increase electrophoretic mobility of the following antigens: lipoproteins alpha and beta; fibrinogen; beta 2-glycoprotein I; beta 2-glycoprotein II ; antithrombin III. All reagents utilized do not react with all these proteins; for instance, only detergents accelerate the migration rate of a lipoproteins. Besides, depending on the protein, this or that reagent may be the most active. Thus, in the polysulphate group, heparin has the highest affinity for antithrombin III, liquoid for fibrinogen and dextran sulphate for beta 2-glycoprotein I.

Blood

[Detergents and precipitation of serum lipoproteins by antisera (author's transl)].

By using gel diffusion methods, it was shown that during immunoelectrophoresis and double diffusion in two dimensions, anionic detergents (sodium oleate, sodium desoxycholate, sodium lauryl-sulfate and sodium decyl-sulfate), added to human serum at the final concentration of 0.5%, do not prevent the formation of an insoluble antigen-antibody complex (precipitation line) when specific antibodies react with serum lipoproteins: LDL, HDL and VLDL. In spite of the presence of anionic detergents, the antigen-antibody interaction in gel occurs even if the amount of lipoproteins in serum was highly reduced. On the contrary, the non ionic detergent tween 80, has a strong inhibitory effect on the specific precipitation of lipoproteins, especially in the case of HDL.

Anions

Purification of rabbit anti-human fibrinogen antibodies cross reactivity of mammalian fibrinogen.

A simple isolation procedure of highly purified and unaltered rabbit antibodies to human fibrinogen is described. The method used is based upon the preferential adsorption of fibrinogen by barium sulfate at acid pH. After redissolution of the specific precipitate and dissociation of the antigen-antibody complexes at pH 2.4, the fibrinogen is removed by adsorption on barium sulfate, while the antibody protein stays in solution. BaSO4 is eliminated by centrifugation and the supernatant is neutralized and concentrated by ammonium sulfate fractionation (40% saturation). A concentrated solution of specific anti-fibrinogen antibodies is thus obtained; the latter can be used to prepare, by selective immunprecipitation, a fibrinogen free plasma, and to analyze precipitin patterns in cross reacting systems.

Animals

CT of fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma.

We retrospectively evaluated 10 patients with pathologically proven fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FLHCC) to assess the utility of CT (n = 9), ultrasound (n = 10), angiography (n = 9), and MR (n = 3). The tumors were solitary in 6 of 10 patients, well delineated in 7 of 10, and hypervascular in 8 of 10. With use of multimodality imaging techniques, a central scar was demonstrated in 3 of 10 patients, calcifications in 4 of 10, dilated intrahepatic ducts in 2 of 10, thrombosis of a segmental portal branch in 2 of 10, and lymph node involvement in 3 of 10. Computed tomography was the most accurate technique for diagnosis and staging. Magnetic resonance imaging helped establish the correct diagnosis in one patient. This report emphasizes the wide variability of imaging features of FLHCC and the predominant role of CT for suggesting the diagnosis.

Adolescent

[Guided punctures].

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Biopsy, Needle

[Specific rabbit abtiserum against human chylomicrons and very low density lipoproteins].

Rabbits were immunized by repeated intravenous injections of large amounts of chylomicrons plus VLDL isolated from human lipemic plasmas. The antisera were absorbed usccessively with lipoprotein free serum, HDL and LDL2. The absorbed antisera still precipitate chylomicrons and VLDL from sera of normal and hyperlipemic subjects (post-absorptive donors and fasting patients with type IV and type V hyperlipoproteinemia). By gel diffusion methods (immunoelectrophoresis and double diffusion in two dimensions), the antisera reveal a single precipitin line which stains better for lipid than for protein. This line is pronounced in VLDL-rich sera and absent in VLDL-free sera. The antisera react with chylomicrons plus VLDL delipidated by extraction with ethanol/diethyl ether; this shows that the antigenic site is an apoprotein; in contrast to apoprotein C, this apoprotein appears to be unique to the triglyceride-rich lipoproteins.

Animals