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R Bacardí

Publications and source records attributed to R Bacardí.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

[Granulomatous hepatitis. Etiologic study of 107 cases (author's transl)].

An etiologic study was made of 107 cases of granulomatous hepatitis which were observed in a Department of Internal Medicine between January, 1971 and December, 1977 (excluding the hepatobiliary diseases). The most common etiology was tuberculosis (30 cases, 28 percent) followed by sarcoidosis (19 cases, 17.7 percent), Mediterranean exanthematous fever (13 cases, 12.1 percent), brucellosis (8 cases, 7.4 percent) typhoid fever (7 cases, 6.5 percent) and the idiopathic forms (8 cases, 7.4 percent). A lower rate of incidence was among Hodgkin's disease, toxoplasmosis, adenocarcinomas, leprosy, and those of unknown etiology, classified in this way because the study and follow-up of the patients could not be completed. There were, moreover, individual cases caused by mononucleosis, BCG reaction, hypogammaglobulinemia, celiac disease, and temporal arteritis. From a clinical point of view 50 percent of the patients had hepatomegaly and moderate disturbance of the liver enzymes. The most important enzymatic increases were detected in the cases caused by brucellosis; in the cases which were secondary to sarcoidosis the liver enzymes were normal. A comparison is established between the etiologic incidence of the present series and of others published in the literature. The causes and diagnostic problems of this type of lesion are discussed.

Agammaglobulinemia

In vivo and in vitro relationship between lipoprotein-X and bile salts in cholestasis.

Bile salts have been shown to act on lipoprotein-X (LP-X) in vitro to induce a false-negative electrophoretic test. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between serum LP-X and serum bile acids in patients with cholestasis. The in vitro concentration of bile salts required to induce a negative or reduced concentration of LP-X was also studied. There was no relationship, either positive or negative, between serum LP-X and bile acids in 34 patients with cholestasis. Serum was incubated with various saline solutions of taurocholic, lithocholic, deoxycholic and glycocholic acids. The concentration of LP-X decreased only after the final concentrations of bile salts were over 2,000 mumole/1. This is more than five times the concentration of serum bile salts usually found in patients with cholestasis. It is concluded that the negative LP-X test in some patients with cholestases must be explained by some other mechanisms than bile salts.

Bile Acids and Salts

[Clinical course characteristics of polymyalgia arteritica. Study of 16 cases].

Clinical and biological characteristics are studied in 16 patients with polymyalgia arteritica. 12 of them were diagnosed by biopsy of the temporal artery and the other 4 because they presented clinical, biological data and a high response to corticosteroids. There were no differences according to sex. Most patients (75%) had symptoms since 1-6 months, headache being the most common (75%). Fever (56%), polymyalgia (50%), weight loss (37%), intermittent claudication, loss of vision and arthritis (12%) were the symptoms seen in these patients. ERS was high in all cases, hemoglobin was less than 8 g/100 ml in 8 cases and an increase of alfa-2-globuline was found in 8 patients. Temporal artery palpation was abnormal in 11 patients. Two of 5 patients who presented a normal arterial palpation had a positive biopsy. All patients received 6-metil-prednisolone. 3 are well after 3, 4 and 6 months therapy. 8 are also well but receiving small doses of steroids as treatment.

Aged

Treatment of respiratory infections with fosfomycin.

Results are presented for a series of 29 patients, 14 males and 15 females, with serious respiratory infections, in which fosfomycin proved effective. In all cases the study was completed by bacteriological, clinical, radiological and analytical controls. The average dose was 6 g/day (3 g orally and 3 g intramuscularly) for 1 or 2 weeks. The four isolated were P. aeruginosa, E. coli, Klebsiella-Enterobacter and D. pneumoniae. Overall sensitivity percentages were best for fosfomycin, gentamicin and colistin. Of the 29 germs isolated, only one strain of P. aeruginosa became resistant: this represents 3% resistance development. No side effects of intolerance or signs of hepatorenal insufficiency were observed during the treatment. Of the 29 patients treated, 22 were clinically cured, denoting 76% success.

Anti-Bacterial Agents

Change of hepatitis B surface antigen in patients with hepatitis during a five-year period.

Between January 1970 and December 1974, 122 cases of acute type B hepatitis were subtyped; 66 (54%) were of the ad type and 56 (46%) were of the ay type. "Cluster" cases (from a dialysis unit) were not considered. During the first period, subtype ad predominated, whereas in the second year there was a clear predominance of the ay subtype; the difference was statistically significant (P less than 0.02). In yearly periods the differences were significant between the years 1970 and 1974 (P less than 0.05), 1972 and 1974 (P less than 0.05), and 1972 and 1973 (P less than 0.05). If only patients without parenteral exposure are considered, there was clearly a shift between 1970-1972 and 1973-1974 in favor of the ay subtype (P less than 0.01). Since epidemiological factors such as injections and transfusions seem not to be responsible, it is suggested that a change of virus strain may be responsible for the different distribution of subtypes of hepatitis B surface antigen in the last year.

Cell Membrane