Use of the glucose clamp technique for confirmation of insulinoma autonomous hyperinsulinism.

The diagnosis of insulinoma on the basis of persistent hypoglycemia requires further confirmation. The insulin suppression test has been used to support this diagnosis prior to surgical intervention. In this study the euglycemic clamp technique was used to compare five control volunteers with four hypoglycemic patients with suspected insulinoma.

Prevalence of legionellosis among adults: a study of community-acquired pneumonia in France.

Over a 24-month period, 274 patients with community-acquired pneumonia were hospitalized in Departments of Medicine at hospitals in Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, and Toulouse. Etiology of the pneumonia was determined either by organism identification or by indirect immunofluorescence in only 139 cases (51%). The most frequently isolated etiological agents were Streptococcus pneumoniae (34 cases), Legionella pneumophila (29 cases) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae (24 cases).

Metformin improved insulin resistance in type I, insulin-dependent, diabetic patients.

The biguanides have been shown to reduce insulin requirements in type I (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients with an increase in insulin binding to insulin receptors. The aim of this was to measure the effect of metformin (850 mg/twice daily) on insulin sensitivity. Ten type I diabetic patients of normal weight received metformin or placebo in addition to their insulin therapy for seven days.

[Peripheral sensitivity to insulin in aged subjects].

Insulin sensitivity has been studied in ten young patients (22 years old means) and in eleven elderly patients (72 years old means). They were free of family diabetes history, glucose intolerance, hypertriglyceridemia, hepatic or renal failure or factor of insulin resistance such as infectious diseases. A two hours hyperinsulinic euglycemic clamp was done with an artificial pancreas (Biostator GCIIS Miles).

[Bromocriptine in Parkinson's disease: pleuropulmonary toxicity].

The authors report a case of pleuro-pulmonary fibrosis after 9 months of high dose bromocriptine therapy for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. When the drug was stopped there was a significant improvement of the clinical state with complete regression of chest pain and dyspnea of effort. The major inflammatory biological syndrome disappeared completely.

Prosthetic valve endocarditis: diagnosis and prognosis.

From 1972 to 1982, 22 patients were admitted for prosthetic valve endocarditis on homografts (3), bioprostheses (2) or mechanical prostheses (17). Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common aetiologic agent in early-onset endocarditis and streptococci in late-onset. Echo-cardiographic or cinefluoroscopic findings enhanced diagnosis mainly in advanced stages of the disease.

[Symptoms and incidence of hypoglycemia in 100 insulin dependent diabetics].

The aim of this study was to discover the frequency and the symptoms of hypoglycaemic reaction and coma. One hundred type I diabetic patients answered an oral questionnaire and explained how they were awaken from their hypoglycaemicoma. The frequency of hypoglycaemic reaction was from one a day to one a year.

Influence of glycaemic normalisation by an artificial pancreas on phagocytic and bactericidal functions of granulocytes in insulin dependent diabetic patients.

Ten insulin dependent diabetic patients were maintained in normoglycaemia for 36 h with an artificial pancreas. Circulating polymorphonuclear leucocytes were extracted and incubated with staphylococcus before and after treatment; phagocytic and bactericidal activities were studied. Granulocytes from diabetic patients showed a decreased ability to absorb staphylococcus and a reduced capacity for intracellular destruction of bacteria.

[Feasibility and reproductibility of a euglycemic hyperinsulinic glucose clamp technic].

The euglycemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp is a means for the study of insulin sensitivity. Several techniques have been described: some are manual, others are automatic and use hypertonic glucose (50%). A semi-automatic technique is described using an artificial B cell (Biostator Miles) and a pump (Vial).