[Achalasia: which treatment to choose in 2015?]. / Achalasie: queulle thérapie choisir en 2015 ?

Achalasia is a rare disorder, whose diagnostic Gold standard is high-resolution cesophageal manometry. The proposed treatment must take into account the patient's health condition and the type of achalasia determined by HRM. Heller's laparoscopic myotomy and pneumatic dilation are the first line treatments for most of the patients, whereas Botulinum toxin injections and pharmacologic therapy are only indicated for patients with a high surgical risk who cannot undergo first line treatments. Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a recent and promising endoscopic technique reserved for expert endoscopy centers, whose exact role is still to be determined by randomized prospective studies. Oesophagectomy has only a marginal role in rare patients with extremely advanced achalasia or at risk of neoplastic degeneration.

[Self-expanding metallic stent in malignant colonic obstruction]. / Place de la prothèse métallique colique dans l'obstruction tumorale.

About 20% of colorectal cancers are complicated by intestinal obstruction. Self-expanding metallic stents (SEMS) permit desobstruction in over 90% of cases. In palliative setting, employing SEMS reduces hospitalisation time and permanent stoma rate with identical mortality rates compared to surgery. When using SEMS as bridge to surgery, higher primary and lower overall stoma rates are obtained with no significant mortality reduction by now. Of concern, procedure-related bowel perforation is frequent, especially among endoscopists lacking sufficient experience in colonic stenting.

[Hospital based internal medicine in 2012]. / Médecine interne hospitalière: l'année 2012 en revue.

In an era in which primary and secondary prevention have important implications for public health and health care costs, a series of publications and guidelines give added weight or precision to current medical practice in the fields of hospital based internal medicine. This article presents a selective review of new guidelines and therapeutic options for areas of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, gastroenterology and oncology.

[Hospital based internal medicine: a review of 2011]. / Médecine interne hospitalière: l'année 2011 en revue.

Numerous prospective randomised trials recently demonstrated the importance of an aggressive approach towards controlling cardiovascular risk factors. New studies reinforce the plethora of available data and confirm that interventional revascularisation strategies for stable coronary heart disease or cerebral vascular disease offer few benefits as compared to medical treatment, and can even lead to worse outcomes. This selective review describes some recent studies in the areas of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or screening of lung cancer, and gastroenterology.