Gastroen Clin Biol
-
Comparative Study
[Esophageal motility in Raynaud's disease, systemic scleroderma and presclerodermal Raynaud's syndrome].
Fifty-five consecutive subjects with Raynaud's phenomenon were submitted to esophageal manometry. According to the results of clinical examination and periungual capillaroscopy, they were divided into three groups: sixteen patients presented presclerodermal Raynaud's phenomenon, and nineteen, systemic sclerosis; twenty others had Raynaud's disease. Twenty volunteers formed the control group. ⋯ Esophageal motility was normal in subjects with Raynaud's disease. We can conclude that: 1) esophageal motor disorders can be seen in presclerodermal Raynaud's phenomenon. The kind of abnormalities observed at this stage of the disease are in favor of an early alteration of the neurogenic component of esophageal motility; 2) there is no relationship between esophageal motor disorders and Raynaud's phenomenon in scleroderma.
-
Peripheral blood T lymphocytes and T lymphocytes subsets have been quantified by an indirect immunofluorescence technique using monoclonal antibodies, in 10 patients with fatty liver, 8 with acute alcoholic hepatitis (AAH), 10 with inactive cirrhosis and 7 with cirrhosis and AAH. Twenty normal subjects were studied as controls. ⋯ In both groups, this increased ratio was due to a decreased proportion of OKT8+ circulating lymphocytes (19.2 +/- 6.7 p. 100, p less than 0.01, and 21.8 +/- 4.6 p. 100, p less than 0.02, respectively) when compared to controls (27.1 +/- 4.1 p. 100). The T-cell imbalance observed in patients with liver cell necrosis may be of importance in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease.