Publications by authors named "M-J Durand"

Article Synopsis
  • - POLG deficiency is the most common cause of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial disorders, leading to a range of overlapping symptoms from infancy to adulthood, as seen in a study of 40 children with biallelic pathogenic variants.
  • - The study identified three main clinical patterns (neurologic, hepatic, gastrointestinal), with 24 patients requiring urgent care mainly due to severe neurologic issues like seizures and epilepsy.
  • - Most children with hepatic symptoms had the earliest onset and shortest survival rates, while those with gastrointestinal issues had milder symptoms and lived longer; overall, the prognosis was poor, with many fatalities occurring by age 10.
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Introduction: Emergency endotracheal intubation (ETI) is a high-risk procedure. Some of its adverse events are life-threatening, and guidelines emphasize the need to anticipate complications by thorough preparation. The emergency department (ED) can be an unpredictable environment, and we tested the hypothesis that a cognitive aid would help the emergency practitioners better follow guidelines.

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Blood flow through healthy human vessels releases NO to produce vasodilation, whereas in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), the mediator of dilation transitions to mitochondria-derived hydrogen peroxide (HO). Excessive HO production contributes to a proatherosclerotic vascular milieu. Loss of PGC-1α (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α) is implicated in the pathogenesis of CAD.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated the effects of angiotensin 1-7 (ANG 1-7) on blood vessel function in human arterioles, particularly focusing on patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).
  • It was found that ANG 1-7 can restore the protective nitric oxide (NO) response in blood vessels from CAD patients, a function that depends on telomerase activity.
  • Overall, ANG 1-7 shows potential as a treatment to improve vascular function, highlighting its role in promoting vasodilation and combating the negative effects seen in CAD.
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The microcirculation is responsible for orchestrating adjustments in vascular tone to match local tissue perfusion with oxygen demand. Beyond this metabolic dilation, the microvasculature plays a critical role in modulating vascular tone by endothelial release of an unusually diverse family of compounds including nitric oxide, other reactive oxygen species, and arachidonic acid metabolites. Animal models have provided excellent insight into mechanisms of vasoregulation in health and disease.

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Background And Purpose: Lean Six Sigma methodology is increasingly used to drive improvement in patient safety, quality of care, and cost-effectiveness throughout the US health care delivery system. To demonstrate our value as specialists, radiologists can combine lean methodologies along with imaging expertise to optimize imaging elements-of-care pathways. In this article, we describe a Lean Six Sigma project with the goal of reducing the relative use of pediatric head CTs in our population of patients with hydrocephalus by 50% within 6 months.

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Rationale: Telomerase is a nuclear regulator of telomere elongation with recent reports suggesting a role in regulation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species. Flow-mediated dilation in patients with cardiovascular disease is dependent on the formation of reactive oxygen species.

Objective: We examined the hypothesis that telomerase activity modulates microvascular flow-mediated dilation, and loss of telomerase activity contributes to the change of mediator from nitric oxide to mitochondrial hydrogen peroxide in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

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Brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation in exercise-trained (ET) individuals is maintained after a single bout of heavy resistance exercise compared with sedentary individuals. The purpose of this study was to determine whether vasodilation is also maintained in the microcirculation of ET individuals. A total of 51 sedentary and ET individuals underwent gluteal subcutaneous fat biopsy before and after performing a single bout of leg press exercise.

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