[Roles of arterial dysplasia, chronic ergotism and other factors in a case multiple spontaneous arterial dissections]. / Rôles d'une dysplasie artérielle, d'un ergotisme chronique et d'autres facteurs dans un cas de dissections artérielles multiples spontanées.

INTRODUCTION: Spontaneous dissection of cervical and visceral arteries are rare and usually associated with an underlying arterial disease. EXEGESIS: The authors report the unusual case of a 50-year-old woman with high blood pressure who presented spontaneous dissection of cervico-cephalic, renal and hepatic arteries and of the descending aorta. She had been taking ergotamine tartrate for ten years for migraine. She also suffered from Raynaud's syndrome worsened by treatment. CONCLUSION: The respective roles of arterial dysplasia, chronic ergotism, renovascular hypertension and migraine are discussed.

[Three-and-a-half years' experience with hemodialysis using 37 Permcaths without infection or definitive thrombosis]. / Trois ans et demi d'expérience en hémodialyse avec 37 Permcath sans infection ou thrombose définitive.

34 patients had 37 Quinton Permcath (PKT), surgically implanted in jugular vein (internal: 29, or external: 8). The first 20 were used for a temporary vascular access (mean: 21 weeks). Then, the next 17 were used for permanent vascular access. 8 could be used for more than 1 year and 2 for more than two years. Anti-aggregant (29 cases) or anticoagulant treatment (8 cases) were systematically prescribed. 6 patients died for unrelated causes (mean delay: 35 weeks). 3 catheters were mispositioned. 2 catheters had to be removed because they were damaged (mean 53 and 69 weeks). Complications were: vein thrombosis (internal jugular vein): 2 cases, vein stenosis (inominate vein): 1 case, heparin overdoses: 3 cases. A partial thrombosis of a single lumen was common but always easily cured by local thrombolysis. Nurses were strongly motivated and followed rigorous educations with help of video-movie. This could be why no infectious (local or generalised) complication was observed. Long-term Permcath dialysis is a precious tool for patient without any peripheral vascular access or in elderly and short-live expectancy.

[Pyelo-ureteral junction syndrome in a transplanted kidney]. / Syndrome de jonction pyélo-urétérale sur un rein transplanté.

The authors report a case of decompensated pyelo-ureteric junction obstruction in a renal transplant patient with anuria on the 27th day, while the IVP (on the 22nd day) was normal. They compare this case with the literature.

[Effects of diltiazem on arterial pressure and renal function in renal transplanted and cyclosporin A treated subjects. Results after 3 months of a prospective study]. / Effets du diltiazem sur la pression artérielle et la fonction rénale du transplanté rénal sous ciclosporine A. Résultats à trois mois d'une étude prospective.

With the aim to improve renal graft function and to prevent hypertension, we used the calcium-antagonist diltiazem in a prospective randomized study in 30 consecutive cadaveric renal transplanted patients from september 1987 to may 1988. The diltiazem (D+) group comprised 14 patients receiving a loading dose of 0.3 mg/kg followed by a 2 micrograms/kg/d continuous IV infusion of D started as soon as possible after clamp on renal artery removal. D was then given orally (120-180 mg/d) throughout the study. 16 patients without D composed the D- group. Cyclosporine A (csa) was started either just before transplantation (15 mg/kg/d orally) in 18 patients (9 D+ and 9 D-) or after 2-3 weeks of poly or monoclonal antibodies (5 D+ and 7 D- at 10 mg/kg/d. In addition to the usual monitoring, inulin (for GFR) and PAH (for ERBF), clearances were performed 7 days and 3 months after transplantation. If hypertension (blood pressure greater than 160/90 mm Hg) occurred, all but calcium-antagonists antihypertensive agents were used in both groups. Between D+ and D-, the number of patients requiring haemodialysis during the first week was not different (7/14 vs 5/16) like the number of dialysis session per patient (1.4 vs 1.1) day 7 GFR (19 +/- 22 vs 23 +/- 20) and day 7 ERBF (146 +/- 147 vs 226 +/- 224) ml/mn/1.73 m2; at 3 months 13/14 (93 p. 100) vs 12/15 (80 p. 100) of the grafts are functioning (NS), GFR (34 +/- 17 vs 33 +/- 10) and ERBF (242 +/- 90 vs 236 +/- 117) are not different.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Arterial hypertension with renin hypersecretion secondary to pyelo-ureteral syndrome. Cure after corrective surgery]. / Hypertension artérielle avec hypersécrétion de rénine secondaire à un syndrome de la jonction pyélo-urétérale (SJPU). Guérison après chirurgie correctrice.

In a 22 years old woman with recent hypertension, a timed intravenous pyelogram revealed an asymptomatic obstructive ureteropelvic junction. Preoperative renal vein catheterization demonstrated excessive renin release from the diseased kidney and low release from the other one, suggesting that corrective ureteral surgery should return blood pressure to normal levels. Moderately impaired glomerular filtration rate improved after surgery as a consequence of suppressed hydronephrosis and bilateral renal ischemia. Thus we conclude that in young people, asymptomatic unilateral hydronephrosis can lead to hypertension and renal failure like renal artery stenosis. In the other cases of urinary flow obstruction, secondary hypertension remains to be explained by both inappropriate production of renin and water chronic retention.

[Macroangiopathy of a kidney graft caused by cyclosporin A]. / Macroangiopathie d'un rein greffé sous cyclosporine A.

We report a case of renal macroangiopathy occurring after transplantation in a 50-year-old woman who received a cadaveric kidney and who was immunosuppressed with cyclosporin A. Accelerated hypertension at 3 months led to renal angiography which revealed diffuse narrowing of the two main renal arteries and their intrarenal branches. The patient returned to regular haemodialysis four months post-transplantation. These angiographic cyclosporin A-ascribed findings are similar to those recently reported by Sawaya.

Ganciclovir therapy of symptomatic cytomegalovirus infection in renal transplant recipients.

We used ganciclovir to treat 11 renal transplant recipients with symptomatic cytomegalovirus infection (seven primary), including one severe, five mild and five moderate cases. Two patients exhibited a non-mechanically ventilated pneumonitis and two others a gastrointestinal involvement. Ganciclovir was used intravenously according to a schedule which took into account renal function, for a median time of 14 days. All patients survived. Cytomegalovirus infection was cured in all patients but two: in the first an early clinical relapse required a second successful ganciclovir course; in the other graftectomy was needed to control infection. Graft was lost in an additional cured patient. Ganciclovir was well tolerated, especially with regard to haematological status. At the current follow-up of at least one month after the end of ganciclovir therapy, no further clinical relapse was observed; however, in one clinically cured patient cytomegalovirus was isolated from blood one week after ganciclovir cessation. These encouraging preliminary data suggest that ganciclovir therapy should be started as soon as cytomegalovirus infection is suspected, especially in cytomegalovirus seronegative recipients receiving a seropositive graft.

[Evaluation of surgical renal revascularization in renovascular arterial hypertension. Measurement by 99m Tc DTPA scintigraphy]. / Evaluation de la revascularisation rénale chirurgicale dans l'hypertension artérielle rénovasculaire. Appréciation par la scintigraphie au 99m Tc DTPA.

The effects of surgical renal revascularization on both hypertension and kidney function was assessed in 16 patients with renovascular hypertension (14 unilateral). We have taken a special interest to the split renal function studied with DTPA renogram. The function of the operated kidney was improved in 9 patients and not improved (worsened or unchanged) in 7. Hypertension was cured in 25% and improved in 56% of the patients, without correlation with split renal function outcome.