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Biomedical subjects

Pierre Bourgeois

Publications and source records attributed to Pierre Bourgeois.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

18FDG PET in oncology: the best and the worst (Review).

The clinical added-value of 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (18FDG PET) in the management of oncology patients is increasingly documented. In the present review, we discuss both the benefits and the limitations of 18FDG PET in different cancers. Considering the literature data and our own experience, we also indicate the best clinical approach to optimize the use of metabolic imaging in oncology.

Fluorodeoxyglucose F18↗

Back problems in Parkinson's disease: an underestimated problem.

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the extent of back pain in Parkinson's disease (PD). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: PD is a common and disabling condition during the course of which back pain may develop. In contrast, the literature on the epidemiology of back pain in PD is poor. METHODS: Patients with PD, seen consecutively in a neurology clinic over a period of 4 months, were inquired about back pain through a self-questionnaire and compared to an age- and sex-matched control group of chronically ill patients. RESULTS: The study involved 104 parkinsonians (mean age: 67.3 years) who had had PD for an average of 11.6 years, and 100 controls (mean age: 65.8 years) who had chronic heart disease or diabetes for an average of 14.2 years. Sixty-two parkinsonians and 23 controls reported back pain. The prevalence was 59.6% in the parkinsonian group and 23.0% in the control group (P < 0.0001). Pain severity was evaluated with a visual analogic scale and averaged 54 +/- 23 mm in parkinsonians and 41 +/- 19 mm in control (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Chronic back pain is quite common in PD. It is responsible for a substantial functional impact and needs more attention to reduce disability of such patients.

Adult↗

Use of complementary and alternative therapies by patients with self-reported chronic back pain: a nationwide survey in Canada.

OBJECTIVE: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is gaining popularity among patients with chronic back pain. We looked for factors associated with CAM use. METHODS: The data came from the cross-sectional household component of the 1996-1997 National Population Health Survey on the health status and behaviors of Canadians. The sample comprising 66.999 individuals aged 20 years or older represented 21 million adults. Cross tabulations were used to estimate the percentage of CAM use among adults with chronic back pain. Factors independently associated with CAM use during the year before the surveys were identified using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: CAM use was highest in the subgroup of Canadian adults reporting chronic back pain (39.07%). CAM use was associated with younger age, being married, having a higher level of education, and earning a higher income. Overall, the CAM users reported less pain, greater analgesic use, more depression, and more co-morbidities. In addition to CAM, these patients used conventional medical services. CONCLUSION: Our results show that patients with chronic back pain who use CAM are more active, more involved in social life, and healthier, suggesting better management of their condition. They use CAM in addition to, rather than instead of, conventional care. CAM use in these patients may be ascribable to dissatisfaction with mainstream physicians.

Adult↗

Massive Gorham-Stout syndrome of the pelvis.

Gorham-Stout disease is defined as a spontaneous, massive, and nonfamilial idiopathic osteolysis. The diagnosis is based essentially on radiological and histological findings. Biopsy reviews always reveal excessive intraosseous nonmalignant proliferation of small vessels, which results in bone resorption and may extend to adjacent bones and soft tissues. These lesions are progressively replaced by extensive fibrosis. Since its first description in 1955, there is still controversy about its prognosis, etiology, and treatment. A case of Gorham-Stout disease, located on the right pelvis, is reported with 50 years of clinical and radiographic follow-up, in a man who has never been treated. To date, this is the longest documented case report of the disease and its rare natural history. It demonstrates that after a variable time of evolution, the massive osteolysis is able to undergo spontaneous arrest and that the lesions may remain stable during several decades. Besides, no reossification was observed, even after 37 years of disease quiescence. Based on a large review of the literature, the authors then discuss the prognosis, etiopathology, and different therapeutic options available to halt the progression of the osteolysis.

Adult↗

Post-lumbar puncture arachnoiditis. The need for directed questioning.

The inflammation of the arachnoid mater may produce a fibrinous exudate around the roots that causes them to adhere to the dural sheath. We report the case of a man aged 23 years who suffered from acute inflammatory truncated sciatica. The diagnosis of adhesive arachnoiditis was made in front of clinical arguments associated to typical signs on Myelo CT Scan and MRI. The only explanation ever found was a traumatic lumbar puncture at the age of 6 years for suspected meningitis. Sequelae of arachnoiditis are difficult to diagnosis. When MRI or myelography suggests it as a possibility, precise directed questioning is necessary to seek a history, albeit distant, of spinal or meningeal events.

Adult↗

Costs of rheumatoid arthritis in France: a multicenter study of 1109 patients managed by hospital-based rheumatologists.

OBJECTIVE: The economic impact of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is substantial, but most studies provide cost estimates specific to a US population. We performed a cost-of-illness analysis of patients with RA for French society. METHODS: A cross-sectional study among rheumatologists in 148 hospitals in France was conducted between November and December 2000. Data were collected on health resource consumption associated with RA (treatments, medical devices, physician visits, examinations, hospitalization, other health professional care) during the previous 12 months. Direct costs and social costs were evaluated for 1109 RA patients. The relation of costs to disease activity and severity was analyzed. RESULTS: The annual direct cost of RA per patient was over euro4000. The costs due to hospitalizations represented around 60% of the costs. The major reason for hospitalization was acute care for RA in a rheumatic disease ward. Patients visited a physician an average of 13 times during the 12 months, 7.7 +/- 8.6 visits to an office-based physician and 5.1 +/- 4.4 visits to a hospital-based physician. Among them, 37% of patients were receiving at least one disability pension (16.7%) or sick-leave allowance (11.9%), with an estimated cost of euro7328 per patient. The mean annual budget per patient was euro2742. Medical and social costs increased in patients with severe disease (2 times), longer disease duration since diagnosis (more than double for patients with a history longer than 10 yrs vs patients with less than 2 yrs), active disease (1.4 times), and functional status (4 times more for American College of Rheumatology class IV than for class I). CONCLUSION: Direct costs represented 59% of the total costs for patients with active RA and 57% for patients with severe RA. Social costs represented 41% of the total costs on average.

Aged↗

Bone mineral density and fracture prevalence in long-term kidney graft recipients.

BACKGROUND: Renal transplantation triggers an early bone loss that increases the subsequent risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Little is known about the long-term outcome of bone status and fracture prevalence several years after transplantation. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional evaluation of bone status to find out the frequency and predictors of osteoporotic fractures in late kidney graft patients. METHODS: Changes in spinal, hip, and total body bone mineral density were assessed using a DEXA Hologic QRD 1000 scanner, and fractures were quantified in all kidney graft patients presenting for routine evaluation with a minimal follow-up of 5 years after transplantation (with a mean follow-up 8.5+/-3.1 years). We measured biochemical markers of bone metabolism and collected clinical and dietary intake data. RESULTS: Fifty-nine renal graft recipients were enrolled in the study within 9 months. Osteoporosis, according to the World Health Organization definition, was observed in 31 patients (53% of the total population) and fractures occurred in 26 patients (44% of the total population and 51.6% of patients with osteoporosis). Femoral neck bone mineral density was positively correlated with patient's weight and cyclosporin current dosage. Steroid cumulative dosage correlated only to lumbar spine Z score. Dietary calcium, serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D, parathyroid hormone, and urinary N-telopeptides excretion were normal. CONCLUSIONS: These data emphasize the substantial prevalence of osteoporosis and fractures among very long-term kidney graft recipients. Therapeutic intervention in these patients is urgently needed.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗

Bed rest or normal activity for patients with acute low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The management of common low back pain has two principal objectives: to relieve acute pain and to attempt prevention of transition to chronicity. Several studies have shown the ineffectiveness of prolonged periods of bed rest. OBJECTIVE: To compare 4 days of bed rest with continued normal daily activity in acute low back pain, taking into account the type of work (physical or sedentary labor). METHODS: This open, comparative multicenter study enrolled 281 ambulatory patients, ages 18 to 65 years, with low back pain (onset < 72 hours). The subjects did not have pain radiating below the buttocks and did not have work-related injuries. They were randomized into two treatment groups: one instructed to continue normal activity (insofar as the pain allowed), and the other prescribed 4 days of bed rest. After inclusion, patients were seen at three visits: on day 6 or 7, after 1 month, and after 3 months. RESULTS: On day 6 or 7, pain intensity was similar for both groups, as was the overall judgment of the treatment by patients and physicians. At 1 and 3 months, the groups again had equivalent intensity of back pain, functional disability, and vertebral stiffness. A higher proportion of patients in the bed rest group than in the normal activity group had an initial sick leave (86% vs 52%; P < 0.0001). This difference was greater for the patients whose work was sedentary. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with acute low back pain, normal activity is at least equivalent to bed rest. The findings of this study indicate that prescriptions for bed rest, and thus for sick leaves, should be limited when the physical demands of the job are similar to those for daily life activities.

Activities of Daily Living↗

A pilot study on the recovery from paresis after lumbar disc herniation.

BACKGROUND: Although the existence of a motor defect in discogenic sciatica is a sign of severity, the literature does not provide evidence for an immediate requirement for surgery. OBJECTIVE: To assess the course of sciatica with discogenic paresis and to determine possible prognostic factors for recovery or improvement. STUDY DESIGN: This open prospective multicenter study included patients with discogenic sciatica with paresis that had been developing for less than 1 month and was rated < or =3 on a 5-grade scale. Pain, the strength of 11 muscles, return to work, and analgesic intake were assessed at 1, 3, and 6 months. Recovery and improvement were defined by pain not exceeding 20 mm or < or =50% of the initial pain score and a score of either 5 (recovery) or 4 (improvement) for the weakest muscle at inclusion. RESULTS: Sixty-seven patients were enrolled; 39 (58%) patients were treated surgically and 28 (42%) medically. Surgically treated patients differed from medically treated patients by a higher rate of extruded herniation, a higher number of paretic muscles (6.3 vs. 5; P = 0.051), and a longer course of sciatica (31.4 vs. 17.3 days; P = 0.034). At 6 months, 7 (10.4%) patients were lost to follow-up; 32 (53.3%) had improved, including 18 (30%) recovered, 33 (85%) back to work and having a professional activity, and 22 (39%) still taking analgesics. The only significant difference between recovered and not recovered patients was mean age at inclusion (43 vs. 51 years, P = 0.034). There were no significant differences between improved and not improved patients. Moreover, the outcome was not different in the two treatment groups: there were 17 (53%) improvements in surgically treated patients, including 8 (25%) recoveries, and 14 (56%) improvements in medically treated patients, including 8 (40%) recoveries. CONCLUSION: This pilot study showed no difference between surgical or medical management for recovery or improvement in patients with discogenic paresis. These results need confirmation by a randomized study.

Adult↗

Pain prevalence in a French teaching hospital.

To measure the prevalence and intensity of pain in hospitalized patients and to assess the quality of pain management, an exhaustive cross-sectional study was conducted in every department in a university hospital. Patients hospitalized for 24 hours or more completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire. Among the 1,475 inpatients, 998 completed the questionnaire. During the 24-hour period prior to our survey, 55% experienced pain. On 100 mm pain intensity measures, the median maximum pain experienced in the 24 preceding hours was 60 mm and the median pain intensity at the time of the survey was 30 mm. Although pain measured at the time of survey disappeared in only 16% of patients, 79% were satisfied with pain management. Despite a high satisfaction level, the prevalence and intensity of pain were very high. This study provided baseline data on pain in a French hospital and led to the implementation of a program for improving pain management.

Adult↗

Bronchiectasis in a patient with CREST syndrome.

Bronchiectasis is an uncommon pulmonary manifestation of systemic sclerosis (SSc). We report the case of a 70-year-old woman with CREST syndrome and vasculitis who developed multifocal symptomatic bronchiectasis. The bronchiectasis and immunosuppressive therapy precipitated severe lower respiratory tract infection, which was fatal within a few months. The concomitant occurrence of bronchiectasis and SSc raises the possibility of a pathophysiological relationship. Several hypotheses can be put forward to explain the occurrence of bronchial wall damage leading to bronchiectasis. Whatever the mechanism, cases of bronchiectasis in patients with SSc should be reported to make physicians aware of the substantial risk associated with this combination.

Aged↗