PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Colebunders

Publications and source records attributed to R Colebunders.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Atypical varicella zoster infection in persons with HIV infection.

Four patients with HIV infection and severe immunodeficiency are described who developed atypical varicella zoster lesions. Three of the patients presented with chronic varicella zoster lesions. In two of them such lesions were hyperkeratotic. All three patients had been treated initially with subtherapeutic doses of acyclovir. In one of the patients the lesions were clinically resistant to high dose acyclovir treatment and disappeared only when renal insufficiency developed during foscarnet-famcyclovir treatment. One patient developed a disseminated varicella zoster infection.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1994

Protection of health care workers against bloodborne infections in emergency departments.

Health care workers in emergency departments are at particular high risk for acquiring occupational bloodborne infections. Needle stick injuries are the main hazard. Systematic HIV testing of patients admitted to emergency department is not a cost beneficial way to protect health care workers from acquiring such infections. Prevention strategies should be based on the adherence to universal precautions, hepatitis B vaccination, the utilization of safer devices and the training/education of health care workers.

Belgium↗
PubMed1994

Cytomegalovirus colitis in a patient with AIDS: CT findings.

This case report describes an AIDS patient with a cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis. A CT scan of the abdomen showed a thick colonic wall, producing a target sign. CT scanning of the abdomen may be useful in patients suspected of CMV rectocolitis in order to decide whether a rectosigmoidoscopy or a complete colonoscopy should be performed. A definitive diagnosis of CMV rectocolitis can only be made by intestinal biopsy.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1994

[Validity of an ELISA test for CD4+ T lymphocyte count and validity of total lymphocyte count in the assessment of immunodeficiency status in HIV infection].

A newly available commercial ELISA (TRAx CD4, T Cell Diagnostics USA) for enumerating CD4+ T lymphocytes has been evaluated with blood samples of 105 HIV seropositive and 6 seronegative subjects. Results from the flow cytometric analysis were used as reference. The sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA to identify HIV seropositive subjects having less than 200 CD4+ T lymphocytes/microliters were assessed and studied using the ROC curve. The reproducibility of the ELISA test was analyzed on 40 samples. The results of the ELISA correlated well with these of the flow cytometric analysis (r = 0.79, p < 0.001). However, the ELISA test tends to overestimate the true CD4 count in HIV seropositives. This overestimation could not be explained by the aspecific contribution of monocytic CD4. The threshold for identifying HIV seropositive subjects with less than 200 CD4+ T lymphocytes with a maximum sensitivity and specificity was determined with ROC curve and equalled 400 cell equivalents with the ELISA (sensitivity and specificity were equal to 80%) and 1,450 lymphocytes/microliters with the total absolute lymphocyte count (sensitivity and specificity were equal to 75%). Using this curve, a threshold of 300 cell equivalents for the ELISA test and of 1,100 lymphocytes/microliters for the absolute lymphocyte count was shown to maximize the specificity (> 95%) without a significant loss of sensitivity.

CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes↗
PubMed1994

Two AIDS patients with life-threatening pancreatitis successfully treated, one with ganciclovir the other with foscarnet.

Two AIDS patients, clinically suspected to have cytomegalovirus (CMV) pancreatitis are described. The first patient was successfully treated with ganciclovir 10 mg/kg/day. This patient refused ganciclovir maintenance treatment and developed 3 other episodes of pancreatitis which responded each time to ganciclovir. The second patient was successfully treated with foscarnet 200 mg/kg/day followed by maintenance foscarnet treatment 100 mg/kg/day. No pancreatitis relapse was observed.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1994

Development of hyperreactive malarious splenomegaly in an 8 year-old Caucasian boy, 18 months after residence in Africa.

Hyperreactive malarial splenomegaly (the former tropical splenomegaly syndrome) refers to a combination of splenomegaly, high antimalarial antibodies and high serum IgM content, a condition resulting from an aberrant immunological response to malaria. It has rarely been described in expatriates. We report the case of an 8 year-old Dutch boy who developed this syndrome 18 months after returning from Zaire. Treatment with mefloquine resulted in gradual improvement of all laboratory abnormalities. The spleen did not decrease in size, but became normal for age as height increased.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Immunological parameters during treatment with ditiocarb (Imuthiol).

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of ditiocarb (DTC) treatment on immunological parameters of HIV infection. Immunophenotyping included CD4+ T-cell counting and the analysis of activation markers on CD8+ T cells. Anti-CD3-induced proliferation and anti-CD3-mediated cytotoxicity were monitored as indexes of T-cell function. In addition to the clinical evolution, HIV antigen and anti-p24 levels were monitored during treatment. DESIGN: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 50 HIV-seropositive patients belonging to all clinical disease stages were randomized to treatment with DTC or placebo and followed for 4 months. METHODS: Immunophenotyping on whole blood was performed by flow cytometry, using combinations of anti-CD8 with anti-CD4, anti-HLA-DR, anti-CD38, anti-CD45RO and anti-CD57. Patient lymphocytes were freshly assayed for cytolytic capacity against OKT3-coated targets. T-cell proliferation was measured after 3 days of OKT3-stimulation. RESULTS: No effect was observed on CD4 and CD8+ T-cell counts or on CD8+ T-cell activation markers, except for a selective increase in HLA-DR expressing CD8 cells in the DTC-treated group. Decline in anti-CD3-induced T-cell proliferation and rise in anti-CD3-mediated T-cell cytotoxicity were observed in the DTC and placebo groups. No effect on HIV antigen and anti-p24 antibody titres was observed. The incidence of clinical complications was similar in each group. CONCLUSION: No beneficial immunomodulatory effect of DTC was demonstrated.

Adult↗