[Argon laser photocoagulation of circumscribed choroidal hemangiomas]

PURPOSE

Therapeutic retrospective results obtained after Argon laser photocoagulation of 17 circumscribed choroidal hemangiomas were analyzed.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Seventeen circumscribed choroidal hemangiomas associated with serous retinal detachment were analyzed. All patients were symptomatic but one. Duration of visual symptoms varied from 2 weeks to 3 years. Mean tumor thickness was 3,3mm (1 to 6,5mm). Mean tumor diameter was 6,5mm (2.5 to 15mm). Tumors were juxtapapillary in 9 cases (57%). The mean distance from the fovea was 1,5mm (0 to 3mm), and the fovea was pathological in all cases but two. The tumoral surface was covered by Argon laser spots with the central avascular area spared in the case of subfoveal hemangioma. In the case of subretinal fluid persistence 3 months later, 1 or more photocoagulation sessions were carried out. Follow-up was 27 months (6 to 156 months).

RESULTS

Success (complete subretinal fluid resolution) was obtained in 82.4% with 1 or 2 laser photocoagulation sessions. Recurrence was observed in 4 cases (23.5%) but treated with success. Final visual acuity, related to the initial foveal condition, was >=0.5 in 23.5% of cases, and >=0.1 in 70.6% of cases.

DISCUSSION

Anatomical and functional results were satisfactory considering initial foveal conditions. Irradiation (external beam irradiation, proton beam therapy, brachytherapy) has been used with success for several years. However, radiation-induced damage was described in addition to a few practical disadvantages.

CONCLUSION

Argon laser photocoagulation was an effective noninvasive therapy for circumscribed choroidal hemangioma. It remains for us the reference method for treating this tumor.

Change in transaminases in hepatitis C virus- and HIV-coinfected patients after highly active antiretroviral therapy: differences between complete and partial virologic responders?

Patients with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection have more severe hepatitis-related disease than do patients with HCV infection alone. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) with protease inhibitor appears to restore pathogen-specific immune responses, especially in patients with persistent undetectable HIV viral load. To evaluate the potent impact of immune restoration induced by HAART on the course of HCV-related disease, HCV viremia and levels of transaminases were compared between two groups of patients: 10 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with persistently undetectable HIV viremia (group A) and 12 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with persistent detectable HIV viremia. No difference was detected in HCV viral load in either group. An increase in transaminases was found only in patients with persistent undetectable HIV viral load, which was correlated with the increase in CD8+ T cells. This may suggest that the restoration of CD8+ T cell cytotoxicity could lead to an enhancement of hepatitis C-related disease in HCV/HIV-coinfected patients receiving HAART.

Hepatitis C virus co-infection is a negative prognostic factor for clinical evolution in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients

A longitudinal study of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals followed-up in 13 centres was performed to assess the influence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) on the clinical and immunological evolution of HIV-infected patients. Eight-hundred and twelve HIV-infected patients with known HIV acquisition date, 89 co-infected with HCV, were included in the cohort. Clinical progression was defined as: 30% decrease of Karnofsky's index; and/or 20% body weight loss; and/or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining illness; and/or death (except by accident, suicide, or overdose). Immunological progression was defined as a decrease of initial CD4 count to below 200 mm(-3). If immunological progression was not statistically different between groups (P=0.25), clinical progression was significantly faster in HCV-HIV co-infected patients in univariate (P=0.02) and multivariable survival analysis (hazard ratio=1.63, P=0.03). This argues for active management of hepatitis C chronic infection among HCV-HIV co-infected patients.

[1977 mortality rate in HIV-infected patients presenting with hepatitis C cirrhosis. Results of the GERMIVC multicenter survey conducted in French departments of internal medicine or infectious disease]

PURPOSE

Hepatitis C (HCV) has a high prevalence (10-30%) among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. However, little information is available regarding the impact of hepatitis C on survival. The objective of our study was to determine the incidence of hepatitis C-related deaths in HIV-HCV co-infected patients.

METHODS

The study was a retrospective (1-year), multicenter cohort survey conducted in 63 departments of either internal medicine or infectious diseases in France. It included 26,497 HIV-infected patients, of whom 4,465 (16.8%) presented coinfection due to the hepatitis C virus. The following parameters were studied for the year 1997: total number of deaths, number of deaths related to either AIDS, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, or other causes.

RESULTS

Among the 26,497 patients, 543 deaths (incidence: 2%) were observed in 1997; 543 deaths were due to AIDS (incidence: 1.7%), 36 to cirrhosis and/or hepatocellular carcinoma (incidence: 0.13%), and 48 (incidence: 0.18%) to another cause. In the subgroup including 4,465 HIV-HCV-coinfected patients, 29 deaths (incidence: 0.64%) were due to either HCV-related cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. These results were compared with those of a previous similar survey conducted in 1995, before the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy. The only significant difference is the dramatic regression of deaths due to AIDS.

CONCLUSION

The impact of hepatitis C virus on the mortality among HIV-infected patients whose follow-up took place in departments of either internal medicine or infectious diseases in France was very low in 1997. The expected increase in the life span in these patients could modify these results in the future, due to recent improvements in the HIV infection treatment.

[Experience with an "isolation unit" for patients infected with multi-resistant bacteria. Retrospective study of 49 patients]

OBJECTIVES

Perform a retrospective analysis of care in a hospital "isolation unit" for patients infected with multirestant bacteria (MRB), i.e. meticillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (SAMR), broad spectrum beta-lactamase secreting enterobacteria. (BLSE).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Forty-nine patients infected with MRB were cared for in our hospital isolation unit between January 1, 1996 and January 1, 1997. Each patient was in a separate room equipped with a sink and soap distributor, single-use towels, and individual material for patient care (stethoscope, mobile equipment, writing material, etc.). The personnel were given special training in the prevention of nosocomial infections. At admission, and in all patients, bacteriological samples to search for SAMR were acquired from nasal discharge, urine, perineal swabs, wounds and bed sores. Wound, urine and fecal samples were also taken to search for BLSE. Search for other sites of infection depended on the clinical situation. The management protocol in the isolation unit included: isolation, daily antiseptic baths, topical application of antibiotics or antiseptics on all bacteriologically proven sites of SAMR infection, selective decontamination of the digestive tract for patients with BLSE positive stools. Systemic antibiotics were given case by case.

RESULTS

Mean duration of stay in the isolation unit was 17 days for SAMR infections and 14 days for BLSE infections. Mean delay to sterilization of the infected sites varied depending on the localization: 2.3 days for blood and 19.4 days for stools. Seven patients died. After leaving the isolation unit, the bacteriological course was followed in 23 patients: there were 7 cases of recurrence at least one site within a mean delay of 34.5 days.

CONCLUSION

Use of isolation units provides an interesting solution for health care centers to control spread of multiresistant bacteria. Considering the endemic state of multiresistant bacteria infections in French hospitals, each health care unit should have correctly equipped facilities for isolating infected patients.

Association between primary cytomegalovirus infection and severe hemolytic anemia in an immunocompetent adult

Hemolysis is a rare complication of cytomegalovirus infection in the immunocompetent adult, and the mechanisms responsible for it remain obscure. Guidelines for treatment have yet to be established, and the effectiveness of antiviral therapy has not been proven. In this report, an unusual case of primary cytomegalovirus infection manifested by severe hemolysis in an immunocompetent adult is presented. Treatment with ganciclovir (5 mg/kg b.i.d.) for 10 days and prednisolone (2 mg/kg/day) for more than 3 months suggests that both virological and immunological mechanisms are probably responsible for the hemolysis.

Development of an Epstein-Barr virus type 2 (EBV-2)-associated hepatic B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in an HIV-1-infected patient following a change in the EBV dominant type

From the longitudinal study of a cohort of HIV-positive patients, we report the case of a patient who initially harbored the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) type 1 and subsequently developed an EBV-2-associated non-Hodgkin's B lymphoma a few years after an EBV-2 reactivation, or an exogenous reactivation, in the blood. At the time of diagnosis of hepatic lymphoma, the blood and the throat harbored high levels of the EBV-1 dominant strain. Sequence analysis of EBNA-2 gene revealed that: (1) type 2 EBV detected during reactivation and then in hepatic tumor was very likely to be the same strain and was mostly identical to the EBV prototype AG876; (2) type 1 virus conserved the same mutations during all the follow-up. These results suggest that EBV-2 might be associated with lymphomatogenesis and that a transient reactivation could lead to the development of an EBV-associated disease.

[Cerebral and pulmonary miliary tuberculosis in an immunocompetent patient: aggravation in an adequately treated patient]

BACKGROUND

Extrapulmonary localizations are observed in 20% of tuberculosis cases, mainly in immunosuppressed patients. Prognosis is poor in case of relatively uncommon cerebral localizations and miliary dissemination, especially if treatment is initiated in late stages. We report a case of disseminated tuberculosis associated with cerebral and pulmonary localizations in an immunocompetent patient. THe disease progressed despite adapted treatment.

CASE REPORT

A young immunocompetent man with an uneventful history developed miliary tuberculosis with pulmonary localizations visualized on the computed tomography (CT) of the thorax. Brain CT was normal, but magnetic resonance imaging revealed several intracranial lesions. The disease course was marked by development of neurological symptoms and progression of the cerebral lesions after one month of treatment. No evidence of therapeutic failure (insufficient dosing, non-compliance, primary resistance) could be identified.

DISCUSSION

Magnetic resonance imaging provides a more precise evaluation of tuberculosis lesions in the brain. Early antituberculosis therapy associated with corticosteroids can improve prognosis. Clinicians should be aware that cerebral lesions may continue to progress despite appropriate treatment, a course which is not satisfactorily explained by any current pathogenic hypothesis.

[Effects of double and triple antiretroviral agents on the HCV viral load in patients coinfected with HIV and HCV]

HIV infection accelerates natural course of HCV infection, but impact of antiretroviral treatment on HCV infection is not well known. The aim of this study is to compare the change of HCV viral load in patients on combination of 2 nucleoside analogues and in patients on combination of 2 nucleoside analogues and protease inhibitor. HCV and HIV viral load, lymphocyte CD4 counts, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate amino transferase (AST) were measured before and 3 months after starting treatment in 2 groups: Group 1 (n = 15) treated with 2 nucleoside analogues and Group 2 (n = 15) treated with 2 nucleoside analogues and a protease inhibitor. Results show a significant increase in lymphocyte and a significant decrease in HIV viral load in the both group but no significant change in HCV viral load and in ALT and AST. In conclusion efficiency of anti-HIV therapy (combination of 2 nucleoside analogues with or without a protease inhibitor) doesn't seem to have any impact on the course of HCV viremia in HIV-coinfected patients.

[Vitrectomy and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Apropos of 66 eyes]

PURPOSE

We report a retrospective study about vitrectomy in diabetic patients and the analysis of anatomical and functional results after surgery.

METHODS

We studied 66 eyes of 52 diabetic patients who underwent pars plana vitrectomy. Vitrectomy was performed for nonclearing intravitreous hemorrhage in 75% of eyes and for tractional macular retinal detachment in 14% of eyes.

RESULTS

After vitrectomy for intravitreous hemorrhage, visual acuity increased in 84% of eyes with more than 5/10 in half the cases. After vitrectomy for tractional retinal detachment, visual acuity increased or became stable in only 55% of eyes. The major complication of surgery was recurrence of intravitreous hemorrhage. A new surgery was not necessary in most cases. Neovascular glaucoma, phtysis, retinal detachment and cataract were the other complications of surgery.

CONCLUSION

Visual prognosis after vitrectomy performed in complicated diabetic retinopathy depends on the final macular function. Surgery for intravitreous hemorrhage without macular detachment produced in most of cases a good visual acuity. On the other hand, vitrectomy for tractional macular retinal detachment was followed by poor visual prognosis. After recurrent intravitreous hemorrhage, a new surgical procedure is possible with good visual results in most cases, even if several procedures are necessary.

[Visceral localizations of cat-scratch disease in an immunocompetent patient]

Locoregional expression of cat scratch disease is well known, but despite advances in microbiology over the last 10 years leading to the description of two new bacteria (Afipia felis, Bartonella henselae) the infective agent responsible for cat scratch syndrome remains unknown. Until the 80s, only one systemic disease was attributed to infection with a germ in the Bartonella genus: trench fever. With the onset of the AIDS epidemic, new clinical syndromes caused by Bartonella bacteria have been described: bacillary angiomatosis, hepatic peliosis, cases of recurrent septicemia, cases of endocarditis, etc. More recently, atypical forms of cat scratch disease including systemic diseases have been reported in immunocompetent subjects. Although quite rare (1% of the cases), such types of expression can raise questions as to diagnosis both in terms of clinical signs and in terms of bacteriological findings. Clinical and experimental data do not provide a clear direction for treatment but would suggest that prolonged use of aminoglycosides is useful.