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S Olindo

Publications and source records attributed to S Olindo.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Acute stroke in the very elderly: epidemiological features, stroke subtypes, management, and outcome in Martinique, French West Indies.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stroke incidence increases with increasing age and has an impact on daily living in many areas. With increasing life expectancy, old people will constitute the majority of stroke victims. We present the first stroke study focusing on very old patients in a black Caribbean population (Martinique, French West Indies). METHODS: All Martinican patients suffering from their first-ever stroke during 1 calendar year between June 1, 1998, and May 31, 1999, were included. Epidemiological, clinical, neuroimaging, management, and outcome data during the first month were collected and compared between very old patients (>or=85 years) and patients aged <85 years. RESULTS: One hundred patients aged >or=85 years and 480 patients aged <85 years were included (sex ratio, women/men, 2.84 and 0.85, respectively; mean+/-SD age, 88.8+/-3.6 and 65.8+/-13.3 years, respectively). The incidence of first-ever stroke was 1.64/1000 per year in the Martinique population and 18.2/1000 per year in patients aged >or=85 years. Elderly patients showed a significantly lower proportion of diabetes (19.1% versus 32.2%; P=0.012) and smoking (0% versus 8.4%; P=0.004) and a higher proportion of peripheral artery disease (23.4% versus 11.4%; P=0.002). Prevalence of hypertension was identical in the 2 groups (70%). There were no significant differences in stroke types or ischemic stroke subtypes between the 2 groups. Active medical care was poorer in older than in younger patients (hospitalization rate, 89% versus 94.4%; admission to neurological ward, 8% versus 23.8%; rate of performance of a CT scan, 82% versus 94%). The 30-day case fatality rate was approximately twice as high in elderly patients (31% versus 16.7%; P=0.0009), and disability (Rankin Scale score >or=3) in survivors was markedly higher (78% versus 48%; P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In Martinique, the incidence of first-ever stroke in very old black Caribbean patients seems similar to that in white patients. They have the same pathological type and subtype of stroke as do young patients. The poorer stroke outcome found in the elderly during the first month may be related in large part to less active management than in younger patients.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2002

Decrease in heart ventricular ejection fraction during multiple sclerosis.

Recent studies have shown that mitoxantrone is effective in patients with active multiple sclerosis (MS) and that cardiac monitoring is usually required. However, right and left ventricular ejection fractions (VEFs) have never been studied in MS patients as compared with control subjects. Radionuclide angiocardiography (RA) was performed to assess right and left VEFs at rest in 40 consecutive patients with active definite MS [15 men and 25 women; mean age 33.9 +/- 10 years; mean disease duration 8 +/- 6.5 years; 18 had relapsing-remitting and 22 had secondary progressive forms of the disease; mean Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score 4.8 +/- 1.9]. The control group consisted of 40 subjects free of neurological or cardiovascular disease (17 men and 23 women; 44.6 +/- 13.4 years of age). The VEF values obtained in the control group defined the normal limits (right VEF 32-54%; left VEF 50-74%). A statistically significant decrease of right (P=0.02) and left (P < 0.0001) VEFs was found in MS patients as compared with control subjects. RA showed pathological results for right (7.5%), left (10%) and both (7.5%) VEFs in 25% of MS patients. No correlation was found between VEF and sex, age, disease duration, disease course, EDSS score or previous treatment. Autonomic impairment, which frequently occurs in MS patients, may have accounted for the decrease in VEFs. Further physiological studies are required to determine factor responsible for the decrease of VEFs in MS.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

[Recurrent syncope and Chiari malformation].

Downward herniation of the cerebellar tonsils through the foramen magnum (Chiari I malformation) is usually revealed by head and neck pain, often associated with brain-stem or spinal cord disturbances. Syncopes are rarely reported and may be difficult to link to their cause when they occur alone. We report two cases with brief and repetitive syncopes revealing a Chiari I malformation. These manifestations may be attributed to transient compression of brain stem or vascular structures at the craniocervical junction, triggered by intracranial pressure increase, as they disappear after posterior fossa decompression.

Budd-Chiari Syndrome↗
PubMed2001

[Spinal cord infections].

Although infectious myelopathies are rare, appropriate aetiological diagnosis is of crucial importance to improve outcome. Lyme disease causes a myelomeningoradiculitis during the second stages and a progressive encephalomyelitis during the third stage. Serum and cerebrospinal fluid antibody tests are the basis of diagnosis. Myelopathy usually responds to treatment with ceftriaxone or doxycycline. Vacuole myelopathy occurs in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection. It is characterised by a progressive spastic and ataxic paraparesis. About half of patients have symptoms of dementia. No specific treatment is available. Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I is endemic in tropical areas and particularly in French West Indies. It causes a chronic spastic paraparesis with sexual and bladder dysfunction. Diagnosis depends on the positive antibody response in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid, and on the exclusion of other causes of spinal cord disease. There is no specific treatment.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed2000

[Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and pulmonary sarcoidosis].

An association of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) and sarcoidosis in a 47 year-old-woman is reported. This is the third case in which PML has been diagnosed by PCR. Clinical, biological and radiological features were in agreement with previous findings in immunologically suppressed patients. JC virus should be systematically detected by PCR in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients with sarcoidosis presenting neurological and radiological PML manifestations.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents↗
PubMed1998

[Efficacy and good tolerance of cotrimoxazole as treatment of cerebral toxoplasmosis in AIDS].

OBJECTIVE: Non-viral opportunistic infections involving the central nervous system in AIDS patients most commonly result from toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE). Combination pyremethamin (pyr)/sulfadiazine (sulf) is the mainstay treatment for TE, but many patients experience severe adverse events occasionally requiring discontinuation of this antitoxoplasmic medication. This investigation assessed the effects of an open, prospective trial of alternative trimethroprim/sulfamethoxazole: cotrimoxazole (CTX) therapy for TE in AIDS patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The subjects were 18 AIDS patients with a first presumptive attack of TE (Group 1) and 9 relapsing patients, including 6 out of Group 1 (Group 2). We gave CTX as a therapy at the dose of 960 mg four times a day for 48 hours, then 960 mg three times a day for two weeks, followed by 960 mg twice daily until computed tomography showed complete disappearance of active TE lesions. Life-long maintenance therapy consisted to CTX 960 mg daily. RESULTS: Group 1: Seventeen patients improved clinically and achieved complete resolution on computed tomography scars over a mean period of 33 days (range: 21-56). Only one patient was withdrawn from the study at day 18 due to a severe skin rash. Neither serious hematologic nor liver toxicity were observed. Under maintenance therapy, 7 patients relapsed after an average duration of 15.5 months. Relapses were precipitated either by poor compliance (5/7) or erronenous CTX protocol (2/7). Group 2: There were 15 relapses affecting 9 patients who were treated successfully with CTX. CTX was discontinued in one relapsing patient who experienced a Stevens-Johnson syndrome on day 13. This patient had previously experienced cutaneous intolerance to sulfadiazine. CONCLUSION: A relative low dose regimen of CTX appears to be strongly efficient and safe treatment for toxoplasmic encephalitis in AIDS. Such a study is of particular interest for developing countries where TE is highly prevalent, given the wide availability of CTX which could be proposed as an economic first line therapy.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1997

[Gayet-Wernicke encephalopathy and centropontine myelionolysis induced by hyperemesis gravidarum].

A 24-year-old woman developed hyperemesis gravidarum, complicated by Wernicke's encephalopathy and central pontine myelinolysis. The first-was due to a deficiency of thiamine, and was hastened by intravenous dextrose without thiamine supplements. However, no changes in serum sodium or phosphorus values were observed. In this case, the pathophysiology of central pontine myelinolysis remained obscure.

Adult↗