[Provider delays among patients with breast cancer in a Regional Cancer Care Network: feasibility of personal care schedule].

In order to determine the feasibility of a personal care schedule, we studied provider delays among women with breast cancer in hospitals of a French Regional Cancer Network. In 2001, 148 women have been treated by surgery in the Alexis Vautrin Comprehensive Cancer Centre (AVCCC), then by adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Before surgery, individual variations in delays was observed: from 0 to 65 days between the appointment making and the first consultation, from 3 to 108 days to start the treatment.

In-vitro growth patterns of bone marrow erythroid progenitors from patients with post-renal transplant erythrocytosis.

Background: Erythrocytosis is relatively common after renal transplantation and is associated with a higher risk of thromboembolism. Its aetiology is unclear and there is still debate about the most frequently suggested causes. The culture in vitro of erythroid progenitors is regarded as a useful tool for the differential diagnosis of patients with unclear erythrocytosis.

Methodology for using the UMLS as a background knowledge for the description of surgical procedures.

The Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) contains and organizes a large number of terms from a variety of biomedical terminology systems. This study examines the relevance of the UMLS content and structures to the specific purpose of the conceptual representation of medical procedures. The MAOUSSC modelling is a compositional formalism with a description of elementary procedures in terms of elementary concept entities and combinations of such descriptions into more complex ones.

Recurrence of immunoglobulin A nephropathy after renal transplantation in the cyclosporine era.

Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) frequently recurs in patients after renal transplantation (RT) on a conventional regimen of immunosuppressive therapy, but little is known about the influence of cyclosporine (Cs) on such a recurrence. We studied 84 patients retrospectively who underwent RT for renal failure attributable to IgAN (n = 71) or Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephropathy (HSPN) (n = 13) in two transplantation units, between January 1985 and June 1991 and were treated with Cs. Four patients died 3 months to 8 years after RT.

IgA nephropathy in patients over 50 years of age: a multicentre, prospective study.

Background: IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is considered as a disease of young men under 30 years of age. Findings on clinical and histological presentation and outcome in older patients have rarely been published.

Methods: In a prospective cohort of IgAN patients, recruited over 3 years, 33 patients over age 50 were compared to 96 patients under age 50, according to clinical and histological findings.

Factors predisposing to post-renal transplant erythrocytosis. A prospective matched-pair control study.

We conducted a prospective study on 81 consecutive patients who had a kidney transplant with graft function for over 3 months to evaluate the prevalence of erythrocytosis following renal transplantation (PTE) and its potential risk factors. True PTE was defined as a RBC mass > 120% of the theoretical value allowing for sex, weight and height. 18 patients (22.

Effect of egg consumption in healthy volunteers: influence of yolk, white or whole-egg on gastric emptying and on glycemic and hormonal responses.

The effects of the ingestion of 2 whole eggs (E), 2 egg whites, 2 egg yolks (Y), or no eggs with a standard breakfast on gastric emptying, glycemic and hormonal responses have been studied in 12 healthy young males. E and Y induce a significant delay of gastric emptying, together with reduced blood glucose and insulin peaks (Y). Egg ingestion, whatever the part, increases gastric inhibitory peptide level in blood.

Knowledge acquisition from the UMLS sources: application to the description of surgical procedures.

The re-usability of lexicons and knowledge in medicine is a crucial challenge. The Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) project has attempted to provide a repository of concepts, semantically categorized for biomedical domain. This paper describes some results about the relevance of UMLS structures for specific purposes.

Risk factors for bacterial infections in chronic haemodialysis adult patients: a multicentre prospective survey.

All adult patients from 13 dialysis centres were prospectively followed up for 6 months in an attempt to appraise the current risk factors for bacterial infections in stable chronically haemodialysed patients. Parameters recorded as potential risk factors for BI were age, gender, cause of renal failure, time elapsed since the start of dialysis, history of transplantation, recent surgical procedure, previous bacterial infection, current immunosuppressive or erythropoietin therapy, type of angioaccess device, and serum ferritin level. Six hundred and seven patients (mean age 56.

A system that facilitates the orientation within procedure nomenclatures through a semantic approach.

The representation of medical concepts should provide the flexibility required to support several purposes. We have implemented a model in which medical terms are represented in a standard format based on a semantic description of the terms. We have focused on the description of procedures.

Designing a sub-set of the UMLS knowledge base applied to a clinical domain: methods and evaluation.

The UMLS is a complex collection of interconnected biomedical concepts derived from standard nomenclatures. Designing a specific subset of the UMLS knowledge base relevant to a medical domain is a prerequisite for the development of specialized applications based on UMLS. We have developed a method based on the selection of the appropriate terms in original nomenclatures and the capture of a set of UMLS terms that are linked to them in the network to a certain degree.

Factors associated with low cognitive performance in general practice.

In the preparatory phase of a randomised controlled trial data were collected to assess the magnitude of changes on cognitive functions in 1628 volunteers (age range 45-75 years) that were recruited from general practitioners' patient population. Subjects were administered a short neuropsychological battery of tests including three paper-and-pencil tests, which assessed immediate recall, delayed memory, and attention. Being on antihypertensive medication was associated with low results for all three tests in every age group, and in all strata according to blood pressure levels.

Bacteremia in patients on chronic hemodialysis. A multicenter prospective survey.

A prospective epidemiologic survey of bacterial infections in chronic hemodialysis patients was conducted from September 1, 1989 to February 28, 1990 in 27 dialysis units. Of the 1,455 patients enrolled in the study, 55 presented 63 episodes of bacteremia (incidence of 0.7 bacteremia per 100 patient-months).

Dialysis-associated arthropathy: a multicentre survey of 171 patients receiving haemodialysis for over 10 years. The Co-operative Group on Dialysis-associated Arthropathy.

In order to determine the prevalence of dialysis-associated arthropathy (DAA) and what factors favour its development, we conducted a survey in 19 centres in northeastern France, of all patients receiving haemodialysis for over 10 years (171). A diagnosis of DAA was made in 84 patients (49%) by two investigators, using as criteria single or combined presence of carpal tunnel syndrome (32%), erosions and bone cysts of the large limb joints (33%) and destructive spondylarthropathy (14%). The 84 patients with DAA were compared with the 87 dialysis patients free of these clinical or radiological abnormalities.

[Expiratory capnography in asthma. Perspectives in the use and monitoring in children].

The shape of the capnogram, which is related to uneven ventilation, is modified in obstructive diseases and especially during crisis of asthma. The most significant change is a rise in the slope of the "alveolar plateau". In this study, we measured the end-tidal slope (ETS) of the capnogram, calculated on 0.

[Urinary tract infections during the 1st month after kidney transplantation].

The incidence and the predisposal factors of urinary tract infections (UTI) in the first month post-transplant were studied in 255 kidney transplantations (252 patients). UTI episodes were demonstrated in 73.7% of the grafts.

Evaluation of a screening test for detecting urinary tract infection in newborns and infants.

The results of a study of a screening test for urinary tract infection (UTI) in infants under 18 months is reported. Two hundred and forty three urine specimens were tested in the laboratory using AMES Multistix 8SG reagent strips read by photometer. The strips included three potential markers for urinary tract infection: leucocyte esterase, nitrite, and protein.

[Coding problems in medical information in the framework of the medicalization of the hospital information system].

The authors review the difficulties presented by the description of medical data, on the basis of the french experience with the programme to medicalize the hospital information system. They explain the different steps in preparing a hospital discharge abstract, and the difficulties presented by each one. They particularly stress the phase of hierarchization in choosing the principal diagnosis.

[Catamenial hemoptysis caused by bronchopulmonary endometriosis].

The thoracic localization of endometriosis may involve the pulmonary pleura and the diaphragm, or the bronchopulmonary parenchyma, according to mechanisms which appear to be quite different. The principal clinical manifestations express themselves depending on their localization, a pneumothorax in the first case and hemoptysis in the second. One clinical characteristic, however, applies to them all, a rhythm strictly related to periods.