Impact of reference panel composition on scores of script concordance test assessing basic nephrology knowledge in undergraduate medical education.

Purpose: In the assessment of basic medical knowledge, the composition of the reference panel between specialists and primary care (PC) physicians is a contentious issue. We assessed the effect of panel composition on the scores of undergraduate medical students in a script concordance test (SCT).

Methods: The scale of an SCT on basic nephrology knowledge was set by a panel of nephrologists or a mixed panel of nephrologists and PC physicians.

Profile of patients with type 2 diabetes and glycated haemoglobin ≥ 10% followed in general practice.

Objective: To determine whether profiles of patients with unbalanced type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) ≥ 10% could be identified on the basis of socio-demographic, behavioural, clinical, and biological characteristics.

Methods: Retrospective, cross-sectional, factorial analysis study of patients with T2DM treated for at least 1 year, with HbA1c ≥ 10%. Patients were recruited via medical analysis laboratories, France.

Home blood-pressure measurement for the diagnosis and monitoring of arterial hypertension by French general practitioners: a cross-sectional survey in the Auvergne region.

Background: Home blood-pressure measurement (HBPM) is recommended for the diagnosis of hypertension and monitoring of patients with hypertension. Since 2013, the French National Health Insurance Body (FNHIB) has promoted HBPM to general practitioners (GPs). The objective of the study was to evaluate the practice of HBPM by French GPs to diagnose and monitor hypertension, 3 years after the beginning of the FNHIB campaign.

Efficacy of local glucocorticoid after local anesthetic in low back pain with lumbosacral transitional vertebra: A randomized placebo-controlled double-blind trial.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of local injection of a local anesthetic with a glucocorticoid versus a local anesthetic with saline to treat low back pain due to lumbosacral transitional vertebras (LSTV) with a pseudoarticulation.

Methods: A randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study was conducted in patients with unilateral low back pain ascribed clinically to LSTV. Patients were randomized to lidocaine plus saline (LS group) or lidocaine plus cortivazol (LC group) injected locally under computed tomography guidance.

Decreased patient exposure to ionizing radiation during interventional rheumatology procedures after optimization of protection.

Objectives: To decrease radiation exposure of patients undergoing interventional rheumatology procedures, without adversely affecting quality of care.

Methods: The radiation dose received, assessed by the dose-area product (DAP), was measured during 283 intraarticular injections performed under fluoroscopic guidance between May and July 2013. Then, three steps were taken to decrease patients' radiation exposure: a copper filter was added, the anti-scatter grid was removed, and exposure cell sensitivity was set at the highest value.

Patient education in chronic heart failure in primary care (ETIC) and its impact on patient quality of life: design of a cluster randomised trial.

Background: Chronic heart failure, is increasing due to the aging population and improvements in heart disease detection and management. The prevalence is estimated at ~10% of the French general practice patient population over 59 years old. The primary objective of this study is to improve the quality of life for heart failure patients though a complex intervention involving patient and general practitioner (GP) education in primary care.

CANABIC: CANnabis and Adolescents: effect of a Brief Intervention on their Consumption--study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Cannabis is the most consumed illegal substance in France. General practitioners (GPs) are the health professionals who are most consulted by adolescents. Brief intervention (BI) is a promising care initiative for the consumption of cannabis, and could be a tool for GPs in caring for adolescents who consume cannabis.

[Quality of life of women GPs in Auvergne].

Background: The medical profession is feminising. In parallel, the importance of quality of life (QOL) must be addressed. Family practice needs personal investment and availability.

Hairy-cell leukemia with inaugural joint manifestations.

Hairy-cell leukemia is a chronic B-cell malignancy seen in adults. The presenting manifestations consist of splenomegaly, pancytopenia, and characteristic monocyte depletion. The presence in peripheral blood or bone marrow of hairy cells exhibiting the CD19(+) CD20(+) CD25(+) CD11c(+) phenotype establishes the diagnosis.

Chronic, eventually fatal, Kawasaki-like disease in an adult with spondylarthropathy responding to IVIG therapy.

We report on an unusual case of a 40-year-old Caucasian male displaying severe Kawasaki-like symptoms. The disease lasted for seven years before diffuse coronary aneurysms occurred, leading to the patient's death, despite ongoing treatment by intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIGs). The patient had also been suffering from a disabling inflammation of the spine, which was reported to have started at the onset of the disorder.