Presse Med
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From October, 1969 to December, 1982, 1117 aortic valve replacements were performed at the Foch Medico-Surgical Centre. Five of these operations (0.4%) were followed, within 6 months to 6 years (mean 37 months), by acute dissection of the whole ascending aorta with a varying degree of extension further down. Such accidents raise problems of aetiology, diagnosis, treatment and possibly prevention. ⋯ Lesions of cystic necrosis of the media were regularly found at histology. In every case during the first operation the surgeon reported that the aorta was dilated or particularly fragile. The question therefore arises as to whether ascending aortas that are fragile and of more than 5 cm in diameter should be systematically replaced.
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Medical journals play an important role in the diffusion of scientific medical information. We tried to evaluate the French medical journal, La Presse Médicale, and to compare it with the New England Journal of Medicine. We reviewed all the original articles published in 1982 (207 articles In La Presse Medicale and 152 articles in the New England Journal of Medicine): specialties, methodologies used in the studies, environment (number of authors, geographical origin, institutional origin, number and language of references, number of subjects included in the studies). ⋯ Most references were in English, even in La Presse Medicale, in which 76% of all references were not in French, and 14% of all articles had no French references. In conclusion, this study shows differences between the two journals: in particular, the methodologies used by the authors in La Presse Medicale were less pertinent than those used by the authors in the New England Journal of Medicine. This finding is important with regard to the formation of and information given to the French speaking physicians, and a strong reaction from the editors and physicians concerned is desirable.