La Revue de médecine interne
-
The authors report the case of a 33-year old male Tunisian who, 7 years after the onset of complete Behçet's disease (diagnosed on international criteria) developed a nephrotic syndrome diagnosed as renal amyloidosis on histological evidence. Attenuation of Congo red staining by potassium permanganate pointed to AA type amyloidosis. Despite treatment with colchicine and cyclophosphamide the patient's condition deteriorated. ⋯ The patient died 3 years after amyloidosis was diagnosed. The authors have reviewed the literature concerning this exceptional association: in all cases where it was typed the amyloidosis was AA. Attention is drawn to the failure of colchicine in this patient.
-
Some biological data of 63 acute alcoholic poisoning (without drug ingestion) in adults were studied during a brief hospitalization. Mean arterial blood concentration of lactate was 2,34 mmol/l +/- 0,13, of ethanol was 53 +/- 3,68 mmol/l. No correlation was found between these two variables and we have not registered lactic acidosis. ⋯ Only two 18 hours fasting chronic alcoholics showed hypoglycemia. These results confirm that acute ethanol intoxication is a potential respiratory emergency in adults, and not a metabolic one (this last pattern being true for children). No confusion between acute intoxication and alcoholic ketoacidosis, alcohol induced fasting hypoglycemia or shoshin beriberi must be made.
-
HLA-A, B, C typing were performed in 72 caucasians with rheumatoid arthritis. HLA-DR typing were accomplished in 40 patients among these 72 subjects. DR4 was clearly increased with a frequency of 55 p. 100 versus 18 p. 100 in controls. ⋯ Two other HLA antigens, B40 and Cw3, were increased and their frequency was twice as high in patients as compared with controls. A synthesis of six studies published in the world confirms the elevation of B40 in this disease and later on suggests the elevation of Cw3 which is often linked with B40. The association of rheumatoid arthritis with B40 and Cw3 can be explained by a linkage disequilibrium between DR4 and B40 on the one hand, between DR4 and Cw3 on the other hand.