Switching between thienopyridines in patients with acute myocardial infarction and quality of care.

Objective: In acute coronary syndromes, switching between thienopyridines is frequent. The aims of the study were to assess the association between switching practices and quality of care.

Methods: Registry study performed in 213 French public university, public non-academic and private hospitals.

close: Closure of patent foramen ovale, oral anticoagulants or antiplatelet therapy to prevent stroke recurrence: Study design.

Rationale: Currently available data do not provide definitive evidence on the comparative benefits of closure of patent foramen ovale, oral anticoagulants and antiplatelet therapy in patients with patent foramen ovale-associated cryptogenic stroke

Aim: To assess whether transcatheter patent foramen ovale closure plus antiplatelet therapy is superior to antiplatelet therapy alone and whether oral anticoagulant therapy is superior to antiplatelet therapy, for secondary stroke prevention in patients aged 16 to 60 years with a large patent foramen ovale or a patent foramen ovale associated with an atrial septal aneurysm, and an otherwise unexplained ischaemic stroke or retinal ischaemia.

Sample Size: Six hundred and sixty-four patients were included in the study.

Methods And Design: CLOSE is an academic-driven, multicentre, randomized, open-label, three-group, superiority trial with blinded adjudication of outcome events.

Epilepsy diagnostic and treatment needs identified with a collaborative database involving tertiary centers in France.

Objective: To obtain perspective on epilepsy in patients referred to tertiary centers in France, and describe etiology, epilepsy syndromes, and identify factors of drug resistance and comorbidities.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the characteristics of 5,794 pediatric and adult patients with epilepsy included in a collaborative database in France between 2007 and 2013. Comparisons between groups used Student's t-test or Fisher's exact test for binary or categorical variables.

Non-lethal Right Liver Atrophy After TIPS Occlusion in A Cirrhotic Patient: Introducing The Hepatic Biembolization.

Background: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is the standard procedure in the treatment of refractory ascites and variceal bleeding in the setting of portal hypertension. Secondary obstruction of the shunt is a classic but potentially lethal complication.

Methods: We present here the case of a cirrhotic patient that underwent a TIPS for refractory ascites, with early complete thrombosis without lethal complication.

Pancreaticobiliary maljunction and choledochal cysts: from embryogenesis to therapeutics aspects.

Pancreaticobiliary maljunction (PBM) and choledochal cysts (CC) are rare and little-known diseases. Several definitions have been proposed for the PBM, but the most widely accepted is an excessive length of the common pancreaticobiliary duct due to the abnormal convergence of the pancreatic and biliary ducts out of the duodenal wall. This anomaly, thought to develop during embryogenesis, is associated with a loss of regulation of the Oddi's sphincter leading to a pancreaticobiliary or biliopancreatic backflow.

[Spontaneous coronary artery dissection and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)].

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a poorly understood and under-diagnosed entity of acute coronary syndrome, affecting predominantly young women. On coronary angiography, the diagnosis remains challenging, particularly in case of intramural hematoma without intimal rupture. Intracoronary imaging, especially by optical coherence tomography (OCT), provides an incremental value in terms of diagnosis and management.

Stenting in paediatric and adult congenital heart diseases: A French multicentre study in the current era.

Background: Many stents are used "off-label" during the management of congenital heart diseases (CHD).

Aims: To describe indications for, results of, and adverse events associated with stenting in CHD in current practice.

Methods: Participation in this study was proposed to all catheterization laboratories that specialize in CHD in France (M3C network).

Flavanones protect from arterial stiffness in postmenopausal women consuming grapefruit juice for 6 mo: a randomized, controlled, crossover trial.

Background: The consumption of citrus fruits is associated with health benefits. However, clinical data regarding the effects of grapefruit flavanone consumption on vascular function are lacking.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to address the role of flavanones in the long-term effects induced by grapefruit juice (GFJ) consumption on vascular function in healthy postmenopausal women.

A 3-day regimen with azithromycin 1.5% eyedrops for the treatment of purulent bacterial conjunctivitis in children: efficacy on clinical signs and impact on the burden of illness.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy of azithromycin 1.5% versus tobramycin 0.3% eyedrops on clinical ocular signs and symptoms of bacterial conjunctivitis in children and to assess the parents' satisfaction regarding the dosing regimen.

Automated peroperative assessment of stents apposition from OCT pullbacks.

This study's aim was to control the stents apposition by automatically analyzing endovascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) sequences. Lumen is detected using threshold, morphological and gradient operators to run a Dijkstra algorithm. Wrong detection tagged by the user and caused by bifurcation, struts'presence, thrombotic lesions or dissections can be corrected using a morphing algorithm.

Application of the European Society of Cardiology, Adult Treatment Panel III and American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines for cardiovascular risk management in a French cohort of rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have greater rates of cardiovascular mortality and RA is an independent cardiovascular risk factor. For the management of cholesterol, the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) developed new guidelines for the general population. None of the European or American guidelines are specific to RA.

The SAPHO syndrome: a single-center study of 41 adult patients.

Objective: The SAPHO syndrome (synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis, osteitis) is a rare disease and only a few series have been published about it. We describe the experience of a rheumatology department with a focus on the therapeutic aspects.

Methods: All cases of SAPHO fulfilling the Benhamou criteria and seen between 1992 and 2013 in our unit were retrospectively included.

Effects of 6 months of abatacept treatment on aortic stiffness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Systemic inflammation plays an important role in the increased cardiac risk observed in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Effective control of inflammation and disease activity may be of benefit in reducing cardiovascular risk in RA patients.

Objective: Our study was conducted in patients with active RA to investigate the effects of 24-week abatacept treatment on aortic stiffness measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV).

Distortion of the CoreValve during transcatheter aortic valve-in-valve implantation due to valve dislocation.

Nowadays transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an accepted alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement for high-risk patients (pts). Successful TAVI procedures for failed aortic surgical bioprosthesis (TAV-in-SAV) have already been reported. In the presented two cases of TAV-in-SAV implantation a strut distortion of the stent was revealed on angiographic imaging and confirmed on control CT scan.

Alcohol septal ablation through a bare metal stent after rotative atherectomy: a complex procedure.

We report the case of a patient with severe malignant hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) and calcified stenosis of the proximal and middle left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. We elected to treat his ischemic heart disease first. We performed angioplasty of the proximal and middle LAD, after rotative atherectomy, and implanted two bare metal stents.

Bronchoalveolar lavage in hypersensitivity pneumonitis: a series of 139 patients.

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is characterized by a lymphocytic alveolitis, classically delineated by an increase of CD8+ lymphocytes, with an inversion of the CD4+/CD8+ ratio. The aim of this study is both to describe the yield and cell bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) profile and to revisit the assumption of low BAL CD4/CD8 ratio in the diagnosis of HP. A multicentric study was conducted on 139 patients who fulfilled the standardized diagnostic criteria of HP, mainly affected by farmer's lung.

Hypersplenism due to portal hypertension: retrospective evaluation of 17 patients treated by splenic embolization.

Purpose: The objective of this retrospective study was to analyze the efficacy and morbidity associated with splenic artery embolization for hypersplenism due to portal hypertension (PHT), as a function of the volume of the splenic parenchyma embolized and the type of PHT (due to intrahepatic block or segmental PHT).

Patients And Methods: This study retrospectively included 17 patients with hypersplenism secondary to PHT (intrahepatic block, n=14; segmental, n=3) treated by splenic artery embolization. The splenic volume embolized was estimated by computed tomography (CT) one month after embolization.

Recurrent bleeding within 24 hours after uterine artery embolization for severe postpartum hemorrhage: are there predictive factors?

Purpose: To retrospectively identify predictive factors of recurrent bleeding within 24 h after uterine artery embolization (UAE) for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH).

Materials And Methods: A total of 194 patients underwent UAE for PPH between August 1999 and April 2009 at our institution. Twelve patients experienced recurrent bleeding within the next 24 h; a second attempt at UAE was thus necessary, which was successful in 10 cases.

High-resolution coronary imaging by optical coherence tomography: Feasibility, pitfalls and artefact analysis.

Background: Optical coherence tomography is an imaging method that enables cardiologists to study atheromatous plaques, and to check the implantation and evolution of coronary stents. It is an invasive technique, providing high-resolution (10 microm) in vivo images, but with limitations and artefacts that need to be understood before the field of application can be extended.

Aim: To determine the feasibility and limitations of optical coherence tomography coronary imaging from a single-centre experience.