[Short- and long-term benefits of smoking cessation].

The beneficial effects of withdrawal smoking on the disrupted physiological functions bound to tobacco spread differently: some weeks for smell, taste and breathing, to the less six months to recover tolerance to the effort without dyspnea. For the cardiac attack the risk bound to tobacco disappears after five years, and the risk for cancers after ten years. The expectation of life of the ex-smoker joined the one of non-smokers 15 years after the stop of smoking.

Erythrocyte hyperaggregation and thrombogenic dysfibrinogenemia.

Erythrocyte aggregation was measured in 12 patients with congenital dysfibrinogenemia. The results showed hyperaggregation in four patients who had presented a thrombotic disorder, while aggregation was entirely normal in patients with asymptomatic dysfibrinogenemia. None of the four symptomatic patients had any other anomaly of hemostasis, in particular no coagulation inhibitor deficit or anti-phospholipid antibodies.

[Influence of protein S deficiency on the arterial thrombosis risk].

Protein S is the cofactor of activated protein C which, together with the antithrombin system, is a major regulator of coagulation. Congenital protein S deficiency is an important risk factor for venous thrombosis. In this study of 105 patients with protein S deficiency, 64 had one of several thromboembolic accidents, including 14 arterial thrombotic accidents involving the central nervous system or the myocardium.

Difference in activity properties and subcellular distribution of neutrophil alkaline phosphatase between normal individuals and patients with trisomy 21.

Biochemical, cytochemical characteristics and electron microscopy subcellular distribution of neutrophil alkaline phosphatase (NAP) were analysed in blood and/or smear samples from 39 trisomy 21 patients (Down's syndrome) aged 11.5-18 years (mean 15.5 years) and 55 normal subjects aged 12-20.

[Recurrent thromboembolism disclosing protein C deficiency. Apropos of a case with familial investigation].

Every thromboembolic manifestation, especially in young subjects, calls for an aetiological study in which haemostasis is evaluated primarily with assays of physiological coagulation inhibitors: protein C, protein S and antithrombin III. Protein C deficiency is found in 6 to 7% of thromboembolic manifestations. We report the case of a 21-year old man who had phlebitis followed by pulmonary embolism without facilitating factors.

[Constitutional abnormalities of hemostasis: diagnostic strategy].

The most common clinical and biological expressions of constitutional abnormalities of haemostasis on which rests the diagnostic approach are influenced by the level where deficiency occurs as well as by the degree of this deficiency and its mode of transmission. Four situations encountered in practice are described: a severe form with loud and early clinical expression, a moderate form with subdued clinical expression but potential risk of haemorrhage, a genetic enquiry and the discovery of a biological abnormality. Concerning the first two situations, the stress is placed on their clinical signs, since peculiarities in a routine laboratory examination lead to a more appropriate exploration performed by a specialized laboratory.

New antibody in severe rhesus incompatible pregnancies: IgG-kappa antiplacental alkaline phosphatase.

As already found in other various diseases, a macromolecular alkaline phosphatase complex (HMW-AP) was also found in sera of two severe Rhesus-incompatible pregnancies complicated by ascites and fetal hydrops at delivery. This atypical complex was detected and isolated by agarose gel electrophoresis. Immunoelectrophoresis and heat inactivation of this HMW-AP complex revealed that it consisted of IgG of the kappa type and placental AP isoenzyme.

Isoelectric focusing of human neutrophil alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes in agarose gel.

An isoelectric focusing technique for human neutrophil alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes is described. After sonication with Zwittergent 3-12, butanol extraction and ultracentrifugation, dialysis of cytosols precedes focusing. Focusing patterns show a heterogeneity with two enzymatic activity areas: a main component at pI 6.

Thin-layer agarose isoelectric focusing of alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes from human neutrophils.

An improved method for thin-layer agarose isoelectric focusing of alkaline phosphatases (AP) from human neutrophils is described. The solubilization of AP isoenzymes was studied with four detergents. The best results were obtained after sonication with Zwittergent 3-12 (1% final concentration), followed by butanol extraction and ultracentrifugation 105,000 x g for 1 h.

IgG/placental alkaline phosphatase complexes in Rh-incompatible pregnancy with fetal hydrops.

In 11 cases with anti-Rh-complicated pregnancies, i.e. ascites at 21/25 weeks and fetal hydrops at delivery, we detected the presence of IgG/placental alkaline phosphatase complexes in the maternal serum.

[Thrombosis of the superior vena cava disclosing Behçet's disease].

The authors report the case of a 29 year old North African patient with Behçet's disease presenting with sudden thrombosis of the superior vena cava. Venous disorders are the fourth major sign of this disease. Although superficial thrombophlebitis is a common presenting sign, caval thrombosis is rare and usually occurs after several years' evolution.

[Evaluation of the performance of an automatic coagulation tester: the Electra 700].

The Electra 700, an automatic coagulation tester recently available in France, was investigated for its performance on routine tests: Quick's test, APTT, thrombin clotting time test, assay of fibrinogen and prothrombin complex factors. Reproducibility was exceptionally good for Quick's test (CV less than 1%), excellent for the other tests (CV less than 3%), acceptability of the various commercial reagents very good, and standard linearity excellent. There was close correlation with manually obtained (electromagnetic B.

[Evaluation of Owren's thrombotest in the monitoring of treatment with antivitamin K].

The need to standardize the monitoring of oral anticoagulant treatments has led some countries to adopt, generally, Owren's Thrombotest. Apart from needing only one reagent and being perfectly adapted to this type of monitoring, the thrombotest has the advantage of being able to be used on capillary blood and venous blood and of not being influenced by the storage of the blood samples. Its disadvantages are that it is slow to perform, difficult to automate and that it has a therapeutic range which is narrow and close to the limits of precision of the technique.

[Monitoring anticoagulant treatment with the KEM-O-MAT 2HP autoanalyzer].

Synthetic chromogenic substrates were adapted to KEM-O-MAT 2HP for an automated monitoring of anticoagulant treatments, determination of factor X (S 2337) in oral anticoagulation, anti-Xa (Hepachrom) and anti-lla (S 2238) activities of heparin in prophylactic and curative heparin therapies. In all cases, these methods revealed high sensitivity, reproducibility, and a good correlation of their results with those of classical clotting assays. The present cost of synthetic substrates seriously limits the potential value of chromogenic assays for routine controls.

[Importance of synoviorthesis using osmic acid in the treatment of hemophilic arthropathy. Apropos of 19 cases].

While getting synovial sclerosis and articular drying, the synoviorthesis breaks the circulus vicious which comes from iterative hemarthrosis to articular destruction. With 25 cases and a follow up of 6 years, we have got 39% of good results, 35% of medium and 26% of bad ones. The therapeutic efficiency requires a certain latent time (0 to 15 days for isotopical synoviorthesis, 2 to 3 months for those ones with osmical acid.

Evaluation of some platelet parameters in a group of elderly people.

Platelet production time (PPT), plasmatic beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG), platelet density distribution, and mepacrine labelled granular content of the platelets were simultaneously determined in a group of elderly subjects. Vascular deterioration, assessed by the history and clinical examination, was variable in extension and severity. PPT was slightly but not significantly shortened, whereas the raised beta-TG level and diminished platelet density and granular content suggested an in vivo release reaction process.

Factor VIII complex in normal pregnancy, pre-eclampsia and fetal growth retardation.

The levels of the three components of factor VIII complex (VIII R:AG, VIII R:WF, VIII:C) were measured during normal late pregnancy, in pre-eclampsia and in pregnancies complicated by fetal growth retardation. In late normal pregnancy, there was a steady increase in factor VIII complex and the highest level was reached at delivery; in primary fetal growth retardation, the values were similar. In pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia, with or without fetal growth retardation, there was a significant increase of VIII R:AG VIII R:WF; the more severe the course of the disease, the greater the increase.

[Limits of platelet aggregation tests for investigating thromboses (author's transl)].

Three methods--spontaneous aggregation, ADP-induced aggregation and levels of circulating platelet aggregates--were used to test for platelet hyperaggregation in 87 adult patients divided into three groups. Group A comprised 26 patients with severe arterial diseases, including cerebral vascular accidents (16) and peripheral thrombosis (10) ; group B consisted of 31 patients with venous conditions, including deep phlebitis (22) and recurrent thrombo-embolic disease (9) ; group C, which served as control, comprised 30 patients with various non-vascular disorders. Spontaneous aggregation and enhanced reactivity to ADP correlated well with each other and were more frequent in patients with vascular diseases.