Remote patient monitoring for chronic heart failure in France: When an innovative funding program (ETAPES) meets an innovative solution (Satelia® Cardio).

Introduction: Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a telehealth activity to collect and analyze patient health or medical data. Its use has expanded in the past decade and has improved medical outcomes and care management of non-communicable chronic diseases. However, implementation of RPM into routine clinical activities has been limited. The objective of this study was to describe the French funding program for RPM (known as ETAPES) and one of the RPM solution providers (Satelia®) dedicated to chronic heart failure (CHF). Methods: A descriptive assessment of both the ETAPES funding program and Satelia® RPM solution was conducted. Data were collected from official legal documents and information that was publicly available online from the French Ministry of Health. Results and Discussion: ETAPES was formally created in 2016 based on previous legislation pertaining to the national health insurance funding strategy. However, it only started to operate in 2018. Patients with CHF were only eligible if they were at medium or high risk of re-hospitalization with a New York Heart Association (NYHA) score superior or equal to two and a BNP>100 pg/ml or NT pro BNP>1000 pg/ml. Medical monitoring was supported through the therapeutic education of a patient on the RPM model of care with a minimum of three training sessions during the first six months. The use of Satelia® Cardio is noteworthy since it relies only on symptomatic monitoring through which the patient manually reports their information by answering a simple questionnaire on a regular basis and does not rely on any connected devices. Conclusion: Innovative funding programs and solutions for RPM need real-world evaluation in the future.

A Delicate Surgical Resection to Treat a Proximal Pulmonary Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma.

Pulmonary adenoid cystic carcinoma (PACC) is an exceedingly rare tumor of low-grade malignancy. Diagnosis is often late, so the tumoral process may be huge at presentation. Surgical resection could be challenging, and the recurrence rate would be greater. We report, hereby, a case of proximal PACC with involvement of the carina in a young male adult, without respiratory distress. Surgical resection was performed through a left pneumonectomy followed by a complex trachea-bronchoplastic procedure. During the operative time, the assisted ventilatory mode was carefully chosen. No adjuvant treatment was needed. Our patient is still under clinicoradiological surveillance and remains disease-free.

[Primary benign schwannoma of the pleura: Report of 2 cases]. / Schwannome bénin primitif de la plèvre : à propos de deux cas opérés.

The preferred thoracic location of a schwannoma is the posterior mediastinum. A pleural location is very rare. To date there have been fewer than 20 cases in the literature. We report two operated cases of primary benign pleural schwannoma. The first occurred in a 52-year-old woman who presented with right-sided chest pain and chronic cough. The radiological appearance suggested a hydatid cyst of the lower right lobe. The second case concerned a 37-year-old, asymptomatic man with no past history, who presented with a left posterior mediastinal mass, discovered incidentally on imaging. Both patients underwent complete surgical resection via a posterolateral thoracotomy. The final anatomo-pathological investigation revealed two primary benign schwannomas of the pleura.

[Place of limited resections and prognostic factors in non-small lung cancer]. / Place des résections limitées et leurs facteurs pronostiques dans le cancer bronchique non à petites cellules.

INTRODUCTION: Results of surgery for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are poorer after limited resection, wedge and segmentectomy, than after lobectomy. Guidelines recommend avoiding wedge-resection, which new techniques (radiofrequency ablation and cyberknife) tend to replace. This work aimed to study the wedge-resection carcinological value. PATIENTS AND METHODS: NSCLC without previous other cancer history and neoadjuvant therapy measuring less than 31 millimetres and operated from 1980 to 2009 were reviewed. Analyzed variables were: location, gender, age, FEVS, type of resection, histology, pT and pN. RESULTS: There were 66 wedge-resections (10.9%), 32 segmentectomies (5.3%), 507 lobectomies (83.8%), nine postoperative deaths (1.5%), 136 complications (22.5%), 557 complete resections (R0=92%); 72.2% of NSCLC upper lobe location (437/605). Age was more advanced in wedge-resection and segmentectomy, FEVS lower and NSCLC most often a squamous cell pN0 and pStage I carcinoma than in lobectomy. Lymphadenectomy was not performed in half the wedge-resections. Five-year survival rates were poorer after wedge-resection: 50% versus segmentectomy 59.8% (P=0.09), and lobectomy 66% (P=0.0035), but the number of recurrences was similar. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that age, FEVS, type of surgery and lymphadenectomy, pN in pTNM were the only prognosis factors. CONCLUSION: Wedge-resection is less carcinological than segmentectomy when the patient-status and NSCLC location allow performing the latter, but more than the new techniques, because of its pathological yield, when the patient-status and nodule peripheral location allow wedging.

[Mucoepidermoid tracheo-bronchial tumors in adulthood. A series of 22 cases]. / Tumeurs muco-épidermoïdes trachéo-bronchiques chez l'adulte. À propos d'une série de 22 cas.

INTRODUCTION: Mucoepidermoid tumours (TME) are rare tumours arising from the submucosal glands of the tracheobronchial tree. The majority of these tumours develop in a benign fashion but some of them are malignant. The latter can be easily mistaken for adenosquamous carcinomas. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We have reviewed 22 patients suffering from TME observed over a period of 25 years. Two arose from the trachea and 20 from the cartilaginous bronchi; 12 of these tumours had macroscopic and histological criteria of low-grade malignancy, 4 had macroscopic and 6 macroscopic and microscopic criteria of high grade malignancy. RESULTS: Prognosis of the latter was very poor and no survival observed after 6 years follow-up, a behavior similar to that observed in non-small cell lung carcinomas and adenosquamous carcinomas. CONCLUSION: The best treatment of these orphan tumours remains surgery.

[Place and role of the pleura in non-small cell lung cancer dissemination]. / Place et rôle de la plèvre dans la dissémination des cancers du poumon non à petites cellules.

INTRODUCTION: The pleural involvement (PLI) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has a poor prognosis, even though it might be very heterogeneous. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A multicentric retrospective descriptive study was performed over 2329 patients who were operated for NSCLC between 1979 and 2010. The patients with PLI were classified in P(Parietal)PLI and V(visceral)PLI and then each subdivided : VPLI to peripheric (VPLI-P) and fissural (VPLI-F) and PPLI to mediastinal (PPLI-M) and costal (PPLI-C). Characteristics and survival were compared between the subgroups as well as with patients without PLI (WPLI, n=1439). RESULTS: The sex-ratio was 2.8 (males: n=1713). The PLI patients were significantly younger, with a less sex-ratio, less R0 resections (96% versus 98.7%, P=0.000076), and less N0 (60% vs 70%, P<10(-6)) as their 5-year survival (45.7% vs 55.5%, P<10(-6)). The PLI was related to the size of NSCLC (P<10(-6)) and N2 involvement (P=0.0020). It was less frequent after neoadjuvant treatment (36.2% vs 39.1% P=0.03). In the VPLI-F or PPLI-M, pneumonectomies were more frequent (P<10(-6)). In VPLI-P (n=196/561), there were more pN1 and pN2 (P=0.0065) with a 5-year survival of 42.9% vs 54.4%, P=0.013. In multivariate analysis, the PLI was not an independent prognostic factor contrary to age, sex, type of resection, pT and pN. CONCLUSION: The pleura play a major role in NSCLC dissemination. Its involvement affects pN, the type of surgical resection and justifies the use of neoadjuvant treatment.

[Place of bilobectomy in pulmonary oncology and prognostic factors in NSCLC]. / Place des bilobectomies en oncologie pulmonaire et leurs facteurs pronostiques dans le cancer bronchique non à petites cellules.

INTRODUCTION: Bilobectomy may be performed for different reasons and lung tumors. There are still controversies regarding the results of this procedure. We reviewed our experience of bilobectomy to evaluate the particularities of this resection. METHODS: The clinical files of patients operated on for lung tumors in two French centers between 1980 and 2009 were prospectively recorded and retrospectively analyzed. The characteristics, management, pathology, and survival after right-sided resections for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were then compared. RESULTS: During the study period, 3280 right-sided resections were performed, including 235 bilobectomy (7%), for NSCLC in 192 cases (82%). Lower-middle lobectomy (LML) represented 60% of bilobectomy, with carcinoid tumors and squamous cell carcinoma being more frequent in this group. Upper-middle lobectomy (UML) represented 40% of bilobectomy, with less postoperative complications and mortality in this group. In N0-NSCLC, the rate of postoperative mortality and 5-year survival rates after bilobectomy (4.7% and 46.1%, respectively) were intermediate between lobectomy (2.7% and 52.6%) and pneumonectomy (9.6% and 31.7%, P<10(-6) for both comparisons). There was no significant difference in 5-year survival rates according to the type of bilobectomy and the performance of any induction therapy. CONCLUSION: Bilobectomy is associated with acceptable in-hospital mortality and encouraging 5-year survival rates despite an increased incidence of postoperative complications. Approximation in survival of UML and pneumonectomy and of LML and lobectomy may be due to differences in histologic features with different fissure extension and interlobar node involvement.

Occupational blood exposure among health care personnel and hospital trainees.

Blood and body fluid Exposure is a major occupational safety problems for health care workers. Therefor We conducted a descriptive and retrospective study to identify the characteristics of blood exposure accidents in health care settings which lasted five years (2005-2009) at the two university hospitals of Sfax. We have 593 blood exposure accidents in health care settings 152 (25.6%) health personnel and 441 (74.4%) trainees' doctors, nurses and health technicians. The mechanism of blood and body fluid exposure was accidental needle-stick injury in 78.9% of health staff, and 81% of trainees, accidental cut in 14.7% of health workers and 10.2% of trainees. The increasing severity of blood exposure accidents is linked to the lack of safe behavior against this risk.

[Management of traumatic aortic rupture. About 37 cases]. / Prise en charge des ruptures de l'isthme aortique post-traumatiques. À propos de 37 cas.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to review our experience in the management of traumatic rupture of the aortic isthmus, to evaluate the results of surgery and endovascular exclusion and to develop an adequate therapeutic strategy based on the existence and severity of associated injuries. MATERIAL: A series of 37 patients presenting posttraumatic aortic rupture associated with other severe lesions was collected from 2000 to 2012. There were 33 males and four females, mean age 38 years. In this series, 25 patients underwent surgical treatment and 12 endovascular exclusion. RESULTS: Six patients died during or after surgery. Overall mortality was 16% (24% in the surgery group). The postoperative period was uneventful in all patients treated with the endovascular procedure. Postoperative computed tomography controls at one week, 1 month and 12 months showed good positioning of the stent without endoleakage. CONCLUSION: Traumatic aortic rupture is often the result of a severe high-energy chest trauma. Other serious injuries are often associated. Results of immediate surgical repair are associated with high morbidity and mortality. The advent of endovascular treatment has revolutionized the treatment of traumatic aortic rupture, especially in patients with a high surgical risk.

[Sero-fibrinous pleurisy and anterior mediastinal mass: a curious association]. / Pleurésie séro-fibrineuse et masse médiastinale antérieure : une association curieuse.

BACKGROUND: Thymic tumors are rare representing 19 % of mediastinal masses. They are associated with several parathymic conditions. The association of thymic tumors with systemic lupus erythematosus has rarely been described. OBSERVATION: We report the case of a 20-year-old woman who presented with a sero-fibrinous bilateral exudative pleural effusion operating in a context of alteration in general status. Diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus was made on the basis of the presence of cutaneous symptoms, pleural effusion, hematological abnormalities and strongly positive lupus serology. Otherwise, thoracic imaging revealed a tissue mass in the thymic lodge. A diagnostic thoracothomy was carried out. Histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of thymolipoma. The patient was treated by high-dose corticosteroids combined with synthetic antimalarials. Evolution was initially favorable. Lupus nephritis stage IV occurred a year later justifying immunosuppressive therapy. A complete remission was obtained with this treatment 30months of decline. CONCLUSION: The association between lupus and thymolipoma is exceptional but not accidental. Immunological disorders secondary to the decrease of the thymic function seem to be in the origin of this association.

[Myoplasty by reversal of the pectoris major muscle in the treatment of mediastinitis. A case report and review of the literature]. / Myoplastie par retournement du grand pectoral dans le traitement des médiastinites. À propos d'un cas et revue de la littérature.

Mediastinitis are among the most dreadful infectious complications following cardiac surgery. Their prognosis depends essentially on the precociousness of the diagnosis. In most of the cases, the medical treatment associated with an irrigation drainage is sufficient. But in case of severe sternal dehiscence, plastic surgery becomes necessary in order to fill up the loss with a well-vascularized tissue. We report the case of a 78-year-old patient, chronic bronchitic who presented, after a coronary artery bypass, an aseptic sternal dehiscence necessitating an osteosynthesis, then a Klebsiella pneumoniae mediastinitis with an enlarged sternal necrosis which was treated by bone resection and a myoplasty via reversal of the right pectoris major muscle. The postsurgery course was favourable. Now, after one-year remote, cicatrisation is complete and we have not noticed any infectious recurrence.

[Rare cause of pulmonary embolism in a child]. / Embolie pulmonaire hydatique chez un enfant.

Cardiac hydaticyst is a rare condition and accounts for only 0.5 to 2% of all visceral locations of hydatid disease. The objective of this study was to point out the main clinical, radiological, and disease-course characteristics of this rare and serious pathology. We report a 13-year-old patient with a hydatid pulmonary embolism caused by a hydatid cyst of the interauricular septum. The diagnosis was established by transthoracic echocardiography, thoracic CT scan, and hydatid serology. Surgery was performed without delay and the outcome was good after 15 months of follow-up. This case underlines the need for rapid diagnosis and surgery before complications of cardiac hydatid cyst.

[Surgery of aortic coarctation with aneurysm of the ascending aorta and aortic coronary fistula]. / Chirurgie d'une coarctation de l'aorte chez l'adulte compliquée d'un anévrisme de l'aorte ascendante et d'une fistule aortocoronaire.

Aortic coarctation is rarely associated with an aneurysm of the ascending aorta and an aortic coronary fistula. In this study, we report the case of a 52-year-old man undergoing surgery for an isthmic coarctation who also had an aneurysm of the initial portion of the aorta and an aortic coronary fistula. The diagnosis was clinically suspected and confirmed by vascular catheterism. The first operative stage consisted of treating the coarctation. The second stage was performed two months later to remove the aneurysm and replace the ascending aorta and the aortic valve with a prosthesis. The coronary arteries were then reimplanted. The postoperative results were quite favourable.

[An anterior mediastinal mass of rare etiology]. / Masse médiastinale antérieure d'étiologie rare.

Hydatid cyst of the mediastinum is very uncommon. The diagnosis, usually evident in endemic regions in the case of a typical clinical-radiological presentation, is rather more difficult in certain atypical forms. We report a case of a 19-year-old man who presented with a mass of tumour like appearance in the anterior mediastinum. The diagnosis of mediastinal hydatid cyst was established by transthoracic needle biopsy and endoscopic bronchial aspiration revealed hydatid membranous debris. The diagnosis was confirmed when the mediastinal cyst ruptured into a bronchus. Thoracotomy was carried out with an uneventful post-operative recovery. This observation illustrates the diagnostic difficulties when a mediastinal hydatid cyst presents the appearances of a tumour. This possibility must be included in the differential diagnosis of every mediastinal mass, particularly in endemic regions.

[Papillary fibroelastoma of mitral leaflet revealed by a cerebrovascular accident. Case report]. / Fibroélastome papillaire de la valve mitrale révélé par un accident vasculaire cérébral ischémique. A propos d'un cas opéré.

Papillary fibroelastoma is a benign primitive cardiac tumour, which can be associated with serious embolic complications. We report on a 37-year-old woman admitted for a cerebrovascular accident. Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography revealed a small and pedunculated mass attached to the anterior mitral leaflet. Because of the severity of its symptoms and its high embolic potential, the tumour was surgically excised and histologically diagnosed as a papillary fibroelastoma. The postoperative period was uneventful and the patient was discharged at the third day. Papillary fibroelastoma must be surgically treated because of its high embolic potential and its severe prognosis.

[Multilevel costovertebral echinococcosis: effectiveness of a combined approach]. / Hydatidose costovertébrale pluriétagée: intérêt d'un abord combiné.

Hydatid disease generally involves the liver and the lung, but rarely can be encountered in bones. The disease predominantly occurs in vascularized areas, involving in descending order: vertebrae, long bones, ilium, skull, and ribs. Vertebral and rib hydatidosis may result from vascular or lymphatic migration of a fertile cell from a hepatic focus. In humans, the two main forms are due to Echinococcus granulosis and less frequently, E. multilocularis (alveolaris). The hydatid cysts usually grow slowly asymptomatically and compression of the involved or the neighboring organ causes clinical manifestations. In this patient, hydatid disease occurred in the chest wall with secondary spinal canal involvement successfully treated by removal of cysts via T7, T8, T9, T10, and T11 laminectomies via a posterior approach, followed by resection of the involved ribs. Total removal of cysts without rupture appears to provide effective protection against late recurrences.

[Costo-vertebral collection complicating multifocal echinococcosis: surgical drainage via an anterior approach]. / Localisation costo-vertébrale compliquée d'une échinococcose multifocale. Intérêt de la chirurgir par voie antérieure.

INTRODUCTION: Costo-vertebral echinoccoccus is a rare and serious condition which often presents with neurological complications requiring urgent surgical intervention. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a seven year old girl admitted with a clinical picture suggesting medullary compression secondary to multifocal Hydatid disease. As well as a costo-vertebral cyst with extension into the spinal canal, lesions were also seen in the lower lobe of her right lung and throughout the liver, confirmed by CT scan and by magnetic resonance imaging. A resection of Hydatid material as well as the posterior part of the 4th rib, the transverse process of the 4th costal vertebra and adjacent bone was carried out via a posterolateral thoracotomy. The cyst in the right lung was successfully excised at the same operation. Three months later six hepatic lesions were removed via a subcostal approach again without complication. A scan 23 months later revealed no evidence of residual hydatid disease. CONCLUSION: This case illustrates the pathophysiological features of costovertebral Hydatid disease and the advantages of an anterior surgical approach.

[Pulmonary myofibroblastoma: the role of primary surgery]. / Tumeur myofibroblastique pulmonaire: intérêt de la chirurgie première.

INTRODUCTION: Myofibroblastic tumours or pulmonary pseudotumours are rare and, though benign, they may become invasive and recur after excision. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a child aged 14, presenting with mild haemoptysis, who had a solitary nodule at the base of the left lung. CT scanning suggested a hypervascular tumour. Fibreoptic bronchoscopy was normal and it was not possible to perform percutaneous biopsy on account of its proximal situation. A lobectomy was performed via a postero-lateral thoracotomy with a successful outcome. Histological examination revealed a myofibroblastic tumour. CONCLUSION: Recourse to primary surgery is essential to confirm the diagnosis of a myofibroblastic pulmonary tumour. Complete resection is the only guarantee to prevent recurrence.

Marker-based cloning of the region containing the UhAvr1 avirulence gene from the basidiomycete barley pathogen Ustilago hordei.

Race-cultivar specialization during the interaction of the basidiomycete smut pathogen Ustilago hordei with its barley host was described in the 1940s. Subsequent genetic analyses revealed the presence of dominant avirulence genes in the pathogen that conform to the gene-for-gene theory. This pathosystem therefore presents an opportunity for the molecular genetic characterization of fungal genes controlling avirulence. We performed a cross between U. hordei strains to obtain 54 progeny segregating for three dominant avirulence genes on three differential barley cultivars. Bulked segregant analysis was used to identify RAPD and AFLP markers tightly linked to the avirulence gene UhAvr1. The UhAvr1 gene is located in an area containing repetitive DNA and this region is undetectable in cosmid libraries prepared from the avirulent parental strain. PCR and hybridization probes developed from the linked markers were therefore used to identify cosmid clones from the virulent (Uhavr1) parent. By walking on Uhavr1-linked cosmid clones, a nonrepetitive, nearby probe was found that recognized five overlapping BAC clones spanning 170 kb from the UhAvr1 parent. A contig of the clones in the UhAvr1 region was constructed and selected probes were used for RFLP analysis of the segregating population. This approach genetically defined an approximately 80-kb region that carries the UhAvr1 gene and provided cloned sequences for subsequent genetic analysis. UhAvr1 represents the first avirulence gene cloned from a basidiomycete plant pathogen.