[S100B protein: a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of head injury].

Acute head injury is a common reason for seeking care in an emergency department and in France accounts for more than 500 consultations daily. In most cases, though the trauma is minor/moderate, a computed tomography scan is necessary to establish the diagnosis and avoid medical and/or social sequelae. This examination is however expensive and not always readily available in the emergency setting.

[Incidence and clinical characteristics of symptomatic urinary infections in a geriatric hospital].

Unlabelled: OBJECTIVES AND SETTINGS: The authors had for aim to study the incidence of symptomatic urinary infections (SUTI) in elderly patients, to describe their clinical and microbiologic characteristics and first-line treatment in a geriatric hospital with 902 beds: 124 in acute care (ACF), 293 in rehabilitation and intermediate-care (RICF), and 485 in long-term-care-facilities (LTCF).

Method: During two months in 2003, all positive urine cultures detected by the laboratory were sent to the clinician with a questionnaire on clinical signs, diagnosis of SUTI and antibiotic treatment.

Results: SUTI was diagnosed in 85 out of 204 positive urine cultures (40%).

[A baropodometric parameter to analyze the gait of hemiparetic patients: the path of center of pressure].

Purpose: Hemiparetic gait has been previously evaluated by several biomechanical methods, but plantar pressure distribution has been much less studied. Our purpose was to analyze the changes in the path of the center of pressure (COP) following the occurrence of hemiparesis using an F-Scan in-shoe transducer.

Materials And Methods: Twenty patients, mean age 50 years [26-67] with hemiparesis due to vascular causes underwent gait analysis (by the F-Scan system).

[Prescribing guidance pocket chart on the initiation of warfarin therapy in a geriatric hospital: a useful but challenging tool].

Elderly patients are at high risk of over-anticoagulation and of haemorrhagic risk when on warfarin, especially during treatment induction. In Charles Foix Hospital, a 800-bed geriatric hospital, we specifically developed for in-patients older than 70 years (target INR 2.5) a simple low-dose warfarin induction regimen.

[Plasma cell leukaemia].

We report a case of primary plasma cell leukaemia, with an absolute count of plasma cells of 53 Giga/L, diagnosed in a 83-year-old woman. The patient's condition improved, with no circulating plasma cells after 3 weeks of treatment, in response to the combination of thalidomide and dexamethasone administered for 5 days followed by thalidomide alone. The clinical presentation, the morphological, flow cytometric and pathophysiological characteristics of the plasma cell leukaemia and the treatment are summarised in this paper.

[Descriptive study of bacteremia in a geriatric hospital].

Objectives: To describe clinical features, microbiologic characteristics and outcome of bacteremia in the elderly patients hospitalized in a geriatric hospital.

Patients And Methods: All episodes of bacteremia diagnosed from January 1(st) to December 31(st) 1998 were analysed, excluding false-positive cases due to skin contamination. The hospital comprises 1084 geriatric beds distributed as 111 in acute care (ACF), 333 in rehabilitation and intermediate-care (RICF), and 516 in long-term-care facilities (LTCF).

[Purple urine bag syndrome].

Introduction: The report of purple discoloration in a urinary drainage system, known as Purple Urine Bag Syndrome (P.U.B.

The thrombophilic state in cancer patients.

Thrombosis and disseminated intravascular coagulation are common complications of cancer. Specific conditions associated with cancer such as stasis due to immobilization or blood flow obstruction, surgery, infections, endothelium damage due to chemotherapeutic agents and abnormalities of blood coagulation contribute to the hypercoagulable and thrombophilic state of cancer patients. This procoagulant state in cancer arises mostly from the capacity of tumor cells to express and release procoagulant activities (cancer procoagulant and tissue factor).

Age dependent increase of elastase type protease activity in mouse skin. Effect of UV-irradiation.

The effect of chronological aging and photoaging (UV-radiation) on elastase-type enzyme activity of hairless mouse skin was studied. Aging resulted in the increase of elastase type endopeptidase activity extractable from mouse skins. Both chronic UVA and UVB radiation resulted in a significant increase of elastase type activity.

[Venous thrombosis and cancer].

The incidence of newly diagnosed cancer is increased, among patients with idiopathic venous thromboembolic event (VTE), six to twelve months after the diagnosis. Among these cancers, the most common sites are colorectal, prostate, pancreas, lung and ovary cancers. However, no study has provided convincing evidence that a patient with idiopathic VTE should undergo an extensive search for underlying cancer.

[Myelodysplastic syndromes].

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are clonal disorders of pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells. MDS occur predominantly over the age of 60 years. The diagnosis of MDS is based on the examination of both blood films and bone marrow aspirate.

Aging of the vascular-wall and atherosclerosis.

The rapid increase of life expectancy during the last half of the 20th century is changing the expression of cardiovascular disease and of its risk factors. These findings are examined by the separate consideration of atheromatous plaque formation and vascular wall stiffening, known as arteriosclerosis. in humans, these processes may progress together, but in some other species as the rat, only vascular wall stiffening is observed.

Elastin-elastase-atherosclerosis revisited.

This review proposes reinvestigation of a topic studied in the author's laboratory over the last decades concerning the age-dependent modifications of the vascular extracellular matrix (ECM) as related to atherogenesis and its recognized risk-factors: blood lipids, lipoproteins. Most salient previous results are confronted with recent publications in this field. Age-dependent modifications of the vascular wall discussed in this review include upregulation of elastolytic enzymes, demonstrated for the first time in the vascular wall in this laboratory, matrix biosynthesis and receptor function.

Venous thrombosis in older people: prevalence of the factor V gene mutation Q506.

Objectives: Old age is usually considered to be a risk factor for venous thromboembolism, in conjunction with other factors such as heart failure, major surgery, cancer, long-term immobilization, and antiphospholipid antibodies. Genetic risk factors, especially inherited deficiencies in coagulation inhibitors, also play a role in the pathogenesis of thrombosis, but these are usually diagnosed in thrombophilic patients before the age of 50. The factor V Q506 mutation, responsible for activated protein C resistance, was recently linked to thromboembolic disease.

Mechanisms of aging of the extracellular matrix: role of the elastin-laminin receptor.

Aging of connective tissues is important for the understanding of aging mechanisms of tissues rich in extracellular matrix and of age-dependent diseases often affecting such tissues. Aging mechanisms of such tissues can be divided as follows: (1) age-dependent modifications of matrix biosynthesis; (2) postsynthetic modifications of extracellular matrix, and (3) modifications of cell-matrix interactions. Examples are discussed for all three aspects of tissue aging, with special emphasis on the role of epigenetic reactions.

[Impact of hospital infection on medical expenditures in a continuing care and rehabilitation service at a geriatric hospital].

The costs of medical expenditures such as drugs, medical devices (MD), biological assays and nurses workload, were measured, before and after the onset of nosocomial infection (NI), in rehabilitation care departments of a 1000-beds geriatric teaching hospital. Data were collected retrospectively in medical records and nursing records. Nurse's workload was measured by the French indicator "Soins Infirmiers Personnalisé à la Personne Soignée" (SIIPS).

[Biological diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies by phenotype analysis].

Haemoglobinopathies are defined by the presence of qualitative and/or quantitative globin chains abnormalities. In most cases, laboratory diagnosis relies on phenotype analysis. Ethnic group, clinical data, complete blood count in absence of recent blood transfusion, iron status, should be taken into account for the diagnosis.