[Thyrotoxicosis periodic hypokalemic paralysis]. / Paralysie périodique hypokaliémique et hyperthyroïdie chez un caucasien.

Periodic hypokaliemic paralysis is an usual cause of severe hypokaliemia. Thyrotoxicosis periodic paralysis (TPP) is less common. Incidence is high in Asian people and rarely reported in caucasian people. We describe the case of a young caucasian male, with a TPP. Clinical symptoms of hypokaliemia are strong, when thyrotoxicosis symptoms appear only on blood tests. The clinical course is good with beta-blockers and antithyroid treatment. These treatments induce a total clinical and biological cure. In all the cases of hypokaliemic paralysis, even without symptom, an hyperthyroïdia must be searched for.

A phase I-II trial of five-day continuous intravenous infusion of 5-fluorouracil delivered at circadian rhythm modulated rate in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

The toxicity of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was decreased by two to eight-fold if this drug was injected in mice near the middle of the day (rest span) rather than in the middle of the night (activity span). If the rhythm in 5-FU toxicity is linked to the sleep-wakefulness endogenous circadian cycle across species, the least toxic time in man would correspond to 4.00 hours at night. The availability of a single-reservoir programmable-in-time external ambulatory pump (Chronopump, Autosyringe, Hooksett, USA) allowed us to perform a first test of this hypothesis. Five-FU was infused for 5 consecutive days, via an implanted venous access port, with peak drug delivery at 4.00 hours and no infusion from 18.00 to 22.00 hours. Each course was repeated after a free interval of 16 days. Intrapatient dose escalation was planned from 4 to 9 g/m2/course (800 to 1800 mg/m2/day x 5 days) if toxicity was less than grade 2 according to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.). Thirty-five patients with metastatic colorectal cancer were treated; 15 (41%) had received previous therapy, 22 (63%) had W.H.O. performance status of 2 or greater, and 19 (54%) had two or more sites involved. Grade 2 or greater toxicity was encountered in less than 5% of the courses, indicating an adequate control of toxicity via dose adjustment. Oral mucositis, diarrhea, and/or hand-foot syndrome limited dose escalation, and their incidence was dose dependent. Median maximal tolerated dose was 7.5 mg/m2/course in 30 patients assessed for this endpoint.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Myocardial infarction, late fibrinolysis and resolving cerebral embolism]. / Infarctus du myocarde, fibrinolyse tardive et embolie cérébrale régressive.

The authors report a case of a cerebral embolism, with a rapidly resolving course, during late fibrinolysis using tissue plasminogen activator in a patient with a posterolateral myocardial infarction. A review of the literature is used as basis for considering the effects of fibrinolytic treatment on left intraventricular thrombi during the acute phase of myocardial infarction. The risk of systemic embolism during such treatment is stressed.

A chronopharmacologic phase II clinical trial with 5-fluorouracil, folinic acid, and oxaliplatin using an ambulatory multichannel programmable pump. High antitumor effectiveness against metastatic colorectal cancer.

A significant increase in the dose intensity of chemotherapy with fluoropyrimidines and platinum complexes has resulted from selective circadian timing and/or circadian modulation of the infusion rate. The relevance of such chronopharmacologic strategy for improving the outcome of metastatic colorectal cancer was evaluated in an extended Phase II clinical trial involving 93 patients. Of these, 49% previously had received chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. The drugs 5-fluorouracil (5-FU, 700 mg/m2/d) and folinic acid (FA, 300 mg/m2/d) combined with oxaliplatin (l-OHP, a nonnephrotoxic platinum complex, 25 mg/m2/d) were infused continuously for 5 days every 3 weeks. In a pilot randomized study, the infusion of all three drugs at a constant rate resulted in World Health Organization (WHO) Grade 3 or 4 toxicity in all four patients compared with no such toxicity in four patients if the infusion rate was modulated according to circadian rhythms. In this Phase II trial, drug delivery was modulated sinusoidally over the 24-hour day with peak flow rates at 4 AM for 5-FU and FA and at 4 PM for l-OHP, using an ambulatory programmable-in-time pump. All patients and 784 of 839 courses (93%) were evaluable for toxicity. Dose-limiting toxicities (WHO Grade 2 to 4) included diarrhea (19% of courses) and vomiting (35% of courses). In addition, WHO Grade 2 to 4 hematologic or mucosal toxicity, respectively, occurred in 2.5% and 7% of courses. Two toxic deaths were encountered. Peripheral sensory neuropathy led to discontinuation of l-OHP in 14 patients after 7 to 12 courses; it completely disappeared within 3 months. Fifty-four of the 93 patients had an objective response (58%; 95% confidence limits, 48% to 68%), irrespective of previous treatment or prior documented progression while receiving standard chemotherapy with 5-FU and FA or continuous 5-FU. Complete responses (CR) were seen in 6 patients (4 of which were proved histologically) and, after surgery, in 12 additional patients (overall CR rate, 18 of 93 [19%]; 95% confidence limits, 11% to 27%). Median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival were, respectively, 10 and 15 months, irrespective of prior therapy. Both PFS and survival were significantly longer in patients with a good performance status (PS, 0 or 1, by WHO criteria; respectively, 12 and 21 months) than in patients with poor PS (respectively, 8 and 10 months; P less than 0.01, by log-rank test). This chronopharmacologic protocol may have circumvented, to some extent, both the natural and acquired resistance of colorectal cancer to chemotherapy.

Phase I trial of 5-day continuous venous infusion of oxaliplatin at circadian rhythm-modulated rate compared with constant rate.

The toxic effects and tissue uptake of both cisplatin and oxaliplatin--[(1R, 2R)-1,2-cyclohexanediamine-N,N'] [oxalato(2-)-O,O']platinum--were previously shown to vary similarly according to dosing time in mice. A 4-hour infusion of cisplatin resulted in fewer side effects and allowed administration of higher doses at 16 hours than at 4 hours in patients with cancer. We hypothesized that the continuous venous infusion of oxaliplatin for 5 days would be less toxic and would deliver a higher dose to the patient if the drug were infused at a circadian rhythm-modulated rate (peak at 16 hr; schedule B) rather than at a constant rate (schedule A). We tested this hypothesis in a randomized phase I trial. We escalated the dose of oxaliplatin to the patient by 25 mg/m2 per course. Courses were repeated every 3 weeks. An external, multichannel, programmable-in-time pump was used for the infusions. Toxicity was assessable for 94 courses in 23 patients (12 patients with breast carcinoma, nine with hepatocellular carcinoma, and two with cholangiocarcinoma). The incidence of neutropenia of World Health Organization grades II-IV and the incidence of distal paresthesias were 10 or more times higher (P less than .05) with schedule A than with schedule B. In addition, vomiting was 55% higher (P = .15) with schedule A than with schedule B. Furthermore, with schedule B, the mean dose of oxaliplatin (P less than .001) and its maximum tolerated dose (P = .06) could be increased by 15% over those doses with schedule A. An objective response was achieved in two of the 12 patients with previously treated breast cancer. We recommend that the dose of oxaliplatin for phase II trials be 175 mg/m2, delivered according to the circadian rhythm-modulated rate.

[The measurement of sensory conduction in the median nerve and its diagnostic value in the carpal canal syndrome (author's transl)]. / La valeur de la conduction sensitive du nerf médian. L'intérêt de sa mesure dans le diagnostic du syndrome du canal carpien.

The authors studied the rate of sensory conduction of the median nerve in three groups of subjects: a group including subjects of different ages in order to determine the variations in conduction and the evoked response as a function of age; a group of patients with the carpal canal syndrome; a group treated by median nerve infiltration in the carpal canal. It was confirmed that there is a slowing of the rate of sensory conduction and spreading of the evoked response in the elderly subjects. The electromyographic data in the carpal canal syndrome is defined, as well as the difficulty of diagnosis which sometimes necessitates specific measurement of the conduction rate between the carpal canal limits.