Eric Goffin (1), Arnaud Devresse (1), Jean-François Baurain (2), Isabelle Tromme (3), Michel Mourad (4), Nada Kanaan (1)Published in the journal : February 2019Category : Nephrology
This article reviews innovations in kidney transplantation, particularly in terms of cutaneous carcinomas and ABO incompatibility. Kidney transplant recipients are at risk of developing basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas due to immunosuppression induced by anti-rejection therapy. A multidisciplinary approach to these skin lesions is required to optimize the therapeutic management, thereby improving patient prognosis. Kidney transplantation from ABO-incompatible living donor patients was introduced in 1982 and successfully taken up in our institution last year. It is rendered possible due to a strategy combining desensitization of the recipient and reinforced immunosuppression. Survival of patients and grafts appears to be equivalent to that observed in ABO compatible transplant patients.
Nathalie Lannoy (1), Marie-Françoise Vincent (2), Fabienne Lohest (2), Cédric Hermans (1)Published in the journal : February 2019Category : Rare Diseases
In Europe, a disease is defined as rare when its prevalence is less than 1 in 2,000. The management of patients with rare diseases refers to the complex and heterogeneous status of some 6,000 to 8,000 diseases, 80% of which are of genetic origin. Rare diseases mostly affect children. Due to the large phenotypic heterogeneity, rarity and unusual nature of rare diseases, the affected patients regularly encounter a lack of knowledge regarding their disease, which is most often associated with diagnostic wavering until an accurate diagnosis is made and lack of treatment.
In order to draw attention on and address this issue, the European Commission has been developing initiatives aiming to ensure the development of concrete measures for the patients and their families across its member states for more than two decades.
Responding to this call, Belgium is committed to improving the management of rare diseases and has thus developed a national plan. Multidisciplinary diagnostic structures were created and supported, partnerships with European reference networks were established, and registers were set up in order to centrally and uniformly collect patient data. This article offers an overview of the characteristics of rare diseases, as well as an inventory of existing measures in both Europe and Belgium.
In various fields of medicine, several innovations and novelties were introduced in 2018, and infectiology does not escape the rule (1). In this article, we have presented the relevant news and novelties that the GP should be aware of.
Th. Schubert (1), M. Van Cauter (1), O. Barbier (1), D. Mathieu, D. Morcillo, L. Thoreau, S. Vandergugten, N.Pireau, A. Sirbu, V. Druez, N. Irda, L. Kaminski, K. Tribak, D. Putineanu, J-E. Dubuc, X. Libouton, E. Thienpont, J-C. Yombi, X. Geets (2),et al.Published in the journal : February 2019Category : Chirurgie orthopédique et traumatologie
Arthroplasty has become the standard approach for hip replacement and has even been described as “The operation of the century” in The Lancet. The drive to optimize care has led to many improvements, particularly regarding minimally invasive surgery, thereby enabling faster functional recovery. Thanks to these advances, it is now possible to consider performing a bilateral arthroplasty, when required, in the same operating session, without impacting the final result of both arthroplasties and at a lower cost. The concept of arthroplasty also extends to the structures involved in the movements of the over- and underlying joints, notably with arthroplasties able to restore the pronation-supination movements of the forearm.
The discovery of a soft tissue mass is often trivialized. Yet, when its volume exceeds 5 centimeters and it is located under the fascia, a malignant tumor must be considered, and multidisciplinary care is required. While surgery has long been regarded as the standard therapeutic option, it is now well established that the co-management with radiation therapists offers a better chance of success, especially if it can precede surgery. Strategies combining state-of-the-art radiotherapy techniques to achieve skin saving and surgical management techniques with a very conservative approach to soft tissue management and negative pressure wound therapy significantly improve the tumor control.
The European Society of Cardiology and European Society of Hypertension have published new guidelines regarding management of hypertension. This paper summarizes the key messages of these guidelines.
The role of the anesthesiologist is to care for the patient throughout the perioperative period and to ensure his/her well-being notably through anxiolysis and effective pain management. In addition to conventional drug approaches, an innovative technique is slowly proving its worth in the medical world: virtual reality. While already well known to the general public for its recreational benefits, virtual reality will probably become in the near future an essential tool in the management of pain and anxiety in a wide variety of painful medical procedures. This technology has already been successfully studied in both adult and pediatric patients in a range of potentially painful medical procedures, such as the treatment of wounds in seriously burned patients, dental procedures and routine medical procedures, and has now started to make its way into anesthesiology...
Nephrology as a full-blown specialty was born in the middle of th 20th century with the advent of kidney replacement therapy. As regards knowledge of kidney diseases, decisive steps forward were introduction of percutaneous kidney biopsy (with examination by immunofluorescence staining and electron microscopy), as well as investigation of individual nephron function by micropuncture and more recently molecular biology techniques. As regards therapy, nephrology benefited the tremendous development of phamacology with the advent of diuretics, hypotensive agents and immunosuppressive drugs. But the revolution of the time was actually the invention of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis as well as the first success of kidney transplantation, allowing a rapidly growing number of patients worldwide to survive renal insufficiency for decades. Access to renal replacement therapy gave rise to novel ethical issues, which has been the foundation of medical bioethics.
The adult phenotype of tuberous sclerosis of Bourneville (TSB) differs from the typical triad, usually found in children, namely epilepsy, mental retardation, and cutaneous angiofibromas. Recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax episodes may thus be a clinical presentation, secondary to pulmonary cystic lesions present in 40% of TSB women. Based on a clinical case as illustration, we recall the diagnostic criteria of TSB and pulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis (LAM), along with recommendations for treatment and follow-up.
Louise Ghosez (1), Christian Davin (2), Karim Bochouari (3), David Guery (4), Isabelle Paris (4), Ides Colin (4), Pol Vincent (3)Published in the journal : January 2019Category : Endocrinologie et Nutrition
Thyrotoxic hypokalemic periodic paralysis is rare, especially in Caucasians. Affected patients have muscle weakness secondary to hypokalemia associated with hyperthyroidism. We report the case of a 23-year-old patient who was admitted to the emergency department for sudden-onset tetraparesis without any trauma. Tetraparesis was accompanied by severe hypokalemia. Etiologic investigations have led to the diagnosis of Graves' disease. Hypokalemic periodic paralysis is a rare neuromuscular complication of hyperthyroidism. It originates from hypokalemia secondary to intracellular transfer caused by both Na+/K+ ATPase pump overstimulation and abnormal potassium efflux due to a mutation in the potassium efflux channel. The clinical management consists in conservative potassium supplementation and administration of ß-blockers. The neuromuscular deficit is transient and reverses rapidly after the correction of hyperthyroidism.
Pheochromocytoma is a rare cause of Cushing’s syndrome (<0.5% of cases) due to ectopic ACTH secretion. This condition proves very challenging regarding both diagnosis and treatment. Our case report illustrates the necessity of a thorough endocrinological investigation for all adrenal incidentalomas, particularly in the presence of clinical symptoms indicative of excessive hormonal secretion. We also show that Cushing’s syndrome secondary to ectopic ACTH secretion displays some typical characteristics as compared to the more common pituitary Cushing’s disease. Furthermore, we conducted a literature review regarding Cushing’s syndrome due to ectopic ACTH secretion from pheochromocytomas.