Clinical presentation of hyperthyroidism in a large representative sample of outpatients in France: relationships with age, aetiology and hormonal parameters

OBJECTIVE

Signs and symptoms of thyrotoxicosis are not specific, and thyroid function tests are frequently prescribed to recognize such thyroid dysfunction. Ultrasensitive assays of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) allow early diagnosis and identification of mild hyperthyroidism (generally designed as 'subclinical'). The aim of this study was to re-evaluate the clinical picture of thyrotoxicosis in the context of the current large utilization of ultrasensitive TSH assays.

DESIGN

Prospective descriptive cohort.

METHODS

Clinical presentation of 1572 patients with a recent (<3 months) diagnosis of thyrotoxicosis recruited by a large representative sample of 263 French endocrinologists was studied using two questionnaires (one at inclusion and the second after 3 months) concerning symptoms, hormonal evaluation and treatment.

RESULTS

A total of 1240 (78·9%) patients were women, mean age 48 ± 17 years. Subclinical hyperthyroidism (SCHT) was present in 86 patients (10·4%). Symptoms of thyrotoxicosis were in decreasing frequency order: palpitations, weakness, heat-related signs and disturbed sleep. A total of 64·9% of patients had lost weight. Signs and symptoms were more frequent in Graves' disease, in young patients, and were partially related to biochemical severity. Symptoms were less frequent in elderly patients except for cardiac manifestations (atrial fibrillation). Most patients with SCHT had one or several signs or symptoms of thyrotoxicosis.

CONCLUSION

This study confirms that elderly patients have less symptoms of thyrotoxicosis than younger subjects but are at increased risk of cardiac complications. Our results show that most patients with 'subclinical' HT have in fact signs or symptoms of thyrotoxicosis.

EFFECT OF COMMUNITY NURSE FOLLOW-UP WHEN TREATING ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE WITH ACAMPROSATE

AIMS

To measure the effect of community nurse follow-up on abstinence and retention rates in the outpatient treatment of alcohol-dependent patients treated with acamprosate.

METHODS

Recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients were prescribed acamprosate for 26 weeks and randomized to either physician-only follow-up, or physician plus regular visits from a community nurse. Drinking behaviour in the next 26 weeks was assessed at monthly visits to non-blind clinicians.

RESULTS

The cumulative abstinence duration proportion (CADP) was significantly longer in (P=0.03) the subjects who had received community nurse support (0.57) than in those who had not (0.39). This might, in part, be an artefact of the higher retention rate among those followed up by the nurse, in that, the method of calculating CADP allocates 100% days of drinking for the month before a failed attendance. Differences favouring nurse in the follow-up were seen for time to first drink, and clinical global impression.

CONCLUSIONS

For recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients treated with acamprosate, follow-up by a community nurse improves patient retention and probably also improves the 6-month drinking outcome.

Pharmacodynamic effects of acamprosate on markers of cerebral function in alcohol-dependent subjects administered as pretreatment and during alcohol abstinence

Animal studies suggested that acamprosate modulates neuronal hyperexcitability of acute alcohol withdrawal, acting through the glutamatergic neurotransmission. In the present study, we further investigated whether treatment with acamprosate could attenuate the post-alcohol withdrawal hyperexcitability or hyperarousal in humans using brain magnetoencephalography mapping of spontaneous fields. A double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study with a parallel group design comparing 2,000 mg/day of acamprosate versus placebo was conducted in alcohol-dependent subjects meeting DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence. Treatments were initiated 8 days before alcohol withdrawal and prolonged during the 15 following (abstinence) days. The study demonstrated that during alcohol withdrawal, acamprosate decreased the arousal level as reflected by alpha slow-wave index (ASI) measurement. This effect was mostly evidenced in left parietotemporal regions and, to a lesser extent, in the contiguous anterior, posterior and right-sided regions. In the placebo group, on the contrary, ASI measures increased between day 2 (acute withdrawal) and day 14 (prolonged withdrawal). The present results suggest a sustained effect of acamprosate on the hyperexcitability state due to alcohol withdrawal in alcohol-dependent patients and that acamprosate may have a protective effect when administered 8 days before alcohol withdrawal.

Post-prandial metabolism of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients before and after bezafibrate treatment

Retarded post-prandial (pp) lipid clearance is potentially a major component of the increased cardiovascular risk incurred by hypertriglyceridaemic non-insulin-dependent diabetic mellitus (NIDDM) patients. The effect of bezafibrate (Bz, 400 mg per day for 5 weeks on chylomicron (CM) and remnant clearance after loads of 100 g of fat and vitamin A was therefore explored in 10 male patients (glycaemia 11.9 +/- 3.3 TG 4.5 +/- 2.4 mmol L(-1)). In all subjects CM-TG and retinyl palmitate (RP) were reduced by 50%, but 8-h non-CM (remnant) RP decreased only in initially mildly hypertriglyceridaemic subjects (-35%, P < 0.05), while in three patients with very elevated initial TG (epsilon3/3, epsilon3/2 and epsilon2/2 genotypes) 8-h remnant RP increased by 100%. The decrease in pp CM-TG correlated with that of fasting Sf 20-400 (r = 0.686, P = 0.026), suggesting that improved lipolysis was a major determinant of hypolipidaemic effect. Apo CIII synthesis is known to be depressed by Bz: concentrations were lower under Bz (P < 0.05). A positive correlation (r = 0.880, P < 0.001) with fasting TG before treatment and its disappearance after treatment suggested an involvement of high concentrations with hypertriglyceridaemia. Post-prandial non-esterified fatty acids were decreased by 35 in correlation with a significant (-19%, P < 0.05) improvement in fasting glycaemia (r = 0.801, P < 0.005). These results suggest that Bz acts both on lipolysis and on removal of CM remnants, but that removal can become saturated when lipolysis is massively improved.

Analysis of carboxyhemoglobin and cyanide in blood from victims of the Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in Puerto Rico

Ninety-seven people died from a fire that occurred in the Dupont Plaza Hotel in Puerto Rico on 31 Dec. 1986. All, except four who died later in the hospital, were found dead at the scene. All of the fatalities at the hotel (except for eight) were burned beyond recognition. Blood from seventy-eight of the victims was screened for carboxyhemoglobin at the Institute for Forensic Sciences in Puerto Rico and was then sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, for analysis of carboxyhemoglobin and cyanide concentrations. The blood data indicated that carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, singly or combined, were probably not responsible for the majority of the deaths that occurred in the badly burned victims. On the other hand, the significantly higher carboxyhemoglobin in the nonburned victims indicated that carbon monoxide alone or combined with hydrogen cyanide probably played a major role in the cause of their deaths.