[Day hospital in internal medicine: A chance for ambulatory care]. / L'hôpital de jour en médecine interne : un atout pour le virage ambulatoire.

INTRODUCTION: Internal medicine is an in-hospital speciality. Along with its expertise in rare diseases, it shares with general medicine the global care of patients but its place in the ambulatory shift has yet to be defined. The objective of our work was to evaluate the benefits of an internal medicine day-hospital devoted to general medicine. METHODS: Named "Centre Vi'TAL" to underline the link between the city and the hospital, this novel activity was implemented in order to respond quickly to general practitioners having difficulties to synthesize their complex patients or facing diagnostic or therapeutic problems. Using preferentially email for communication, the general practitioners can contact an internist who is committed to respond on the same day and take over the patient within 7 days if day-hospital is appropriate for his condition. The other patients are directed either to the emergency department, consultation or full hospitalization. RESULTS: In 14 months, the center has received 213 (144 women, 69 men) patients, mean age 53.6, addressed by 88 general practitioners for 282 day-hospital sessions. Requests included problem diagnoses (n=105), synthesis reviews for complex patients (n=65), and treatment (n=43). CONCLUSION: In the ambulatory shift advocated by the authorities, this experience shows that internal medicine should engage in the recognition of day-hospital as a place for diagnosis and synthesis reviews connected with the city while leaving the general practitioners coordinator of their patient care. This activity of synthesis in day-hospital is useful for the patients and efficient for our healthcare system.

New-onset vitiligo and progression of pre-existing vitiligo during treatment with biological agents in chronic inflammatory diseases.

BACKGROUND: The development of vitiligo during treatment with biological agents is an unusual event and only a few isolated cases have been reported. OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical characteristics and evolution of patients developing new-onset vitiligo following initiation of a biological agent for chronic inflammatory disease; and also to report the clinical course of pre-existing vitiligo under biological therapy. METHODS: This nationwide multicentre, retrospective study, carried out between July 2013 and January 2015, describes the characteristics of a large series of 18 patients (psoriasis N = 8, inflammatory rheumatic diseases N = 8, ulcerative colitis N = 1, uveitis N = 1) who developed new-onset vitiligo while receiving a biological agent. RESULTS: TNFα inhibitors were the most common biological agent involved (13/18) while anti-IL-12/23 and anti-IL-17 agents or abatacept were less common (4/18 and 1/18 respectively). Mean duration of biological agent exposure before vitiligo onset was 13.9 ± 16.5 months. Outcome was favourable for most patients (15/17) while maintaining the biological agent. Data were also collected for 18 patients (psoriasis N = 5, inflammatory rheumatic diseases N = 10, inflammatory bowel diseases N = 2, SAPHO N = 1) who had pre-existing vitiligo when treatment with a biological agent started (TNFα inhibitors N = 15, ustekinumab N = 1, rituximab N = 1, tocilizumab N = 1). Vitiligo progressed in seven patients and was stable or improved in eight cases. CONCLUSION: Vitiligo may thus emerge and/or progress during treatment with various biological agents, mainly TNFα inhibitors and could be a new paradoxical skin reaction. De novo vitiligo displays a favourable outcome when maintaining the biological agent, whereas the prognosis seems worse in cases of pre-existing vitiligo.

[Pseudo-autoinflammatory attacks of temporal arteritis]. / Manifestations d'allure auto-inflammatoire d'une maladie de Horton.

INTRODUCTION: Usually, temporal arteritis progresses as a chronic disease. CASE REPORT: The authors report the observation of a 74-year-old woman who presented with two acute flares of temporal arteritis with headache, fever and inflammatory syndrome, which have spontaneously resolved. DISCUSSION: The observations of auto-inflammatory attacks of arteritis disease are rare, but maybe underestimated. The pathophysiology remains unclear.

Regression of cutis calcinosis with diltiazem in adult dermatomyositis.

Calcinosis cutis is common in several connective tissue diseases such as dermatomyositis, scleroderma or lupus erythematous. In dermatomyositis, it is more likely to concern children than adults but it is not exceptional in adults. Several treatments have been used empirically with inconsistent success. We report a case of adult cutis calcinosis associated with dermatomyositis which responded dramatically to treatment with diltiazem.

[Setting up a data collection and assessment system of the Permanent Healthcare Access Activities (PASS)]. / Mise en place d'un système de recueil et d'évaluation de l'activité médicosociale des permanences d'accès aux soins de santé (PASS).

INTRODUCTION: Five years after introducing the Permanent Access to Healthcare activity (PASS), it became necessary to analyse how it works. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A computerized data collection and assessment system intended to evaluate the PASS health activities has been set up in 11 University Hospitals and ten General Hospitals. From January 1st to June, 30th 2003 data was captured in a computer. RESULTS: The patients requiring medical advice are young (with an average age of 35 years) and present several signs of poverty in terms of accommodation, social relationships and financial means. Besides, almost all of them are uninsured. The PASS public corresponds completely to the created system. Poverty risk factors vary according to the geographic origin. Indeed, French people often suffer from isolation, whereas foreign patients present financial problems. The major part of patients are foreigners and more than a third of them do not speak French, which is an additional obstacle to care. Most of the time, the PASS patients present digestive disorders, nevertheless there are some differences between French and foreign patients. Indeed, foreigners very frequently have digestive and osteoarticluar problems, whereas French patients suffer from psychic disorders and present addictive behaviours. Some patients are sent to physicians downtown (9%) and to external medicosocial assistance centres (39.5%). DISCUSSION: This study (first one in France) provides us with homogenous data regarding the activities of PASS centres nationwide. The usefulness of computers and its acceptability facilitate data diffusion, with possibilities of adapting to each centre while preserving a common basis.

Typical and atypical Cogan's syndrome: 32 cases and review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE: To report our experience on a multicentre series of 32 patients with either typical or atypical Cogan's syndrome, to combine our results with a detailed review of the literature, and to compare the clinical manifestations of typical and atypical Cogan's syndrome. METHODS: Patients were identified from a survey conducted with physicians affiliated to the French National Society for Internal Medicine, and were classified into typical or atypical Cogan's syndrome according to the Haynes criteria. Clinical data were collected in a standardized manner. A comprehensive literature review using the Medline database and the reference lists of identified articles was performed. RESULTS: Seventeen patients had typical Cogan's syndrome and 15 had atypical Cogan's syndrome. Apart from non-syphilitic interstitial keratitis, the ocular manifestations of patients with atypical Cogan's syndrome were mainly uveitis and episcleritis. All but one patient presented with Ménière-like syndrome, and at the end of follow-up 11 were deaf and 19 additional patients had developed a significant decrease in auditory acuity. Twenty-five patients (78%) developed systemic manifestations, including aortitis in four. Comparison of typical and atypical Cogan's syndrome showed that some systemic manifestations were more common in atypical Cogan's syndrome, but these differences may be explained by reporting bias in the literature. CONCLUSION: Differences regarding the associated systemic manifestations of typical and atypical Cogan's syndrome may reflect reporting bias in the literature. However, the diversity of the ocular and audiovestibular manifestations and the acceptable lengthy delay between the two types of involvement in atypical Cogan's syndrome should make one cautious before accepting this diagnosis as the diagnosis may mimic various other systemic diseases.

[Febrile form of ankylosing spondylitis]. / Les formes fébriles de la spondylarthrite ankylosante.

INTRODUCTION: Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that is rarely associated with severe systemic manifestations. EXEGESIS: We report the case of a 29-year-old man presenting with an atypical ankylosing spondylitis. The patient presented with a high spiking fever, a marked weight loss, and an unusual increase of acute phase response markers. Such features are rarely associated with ankylosing spondylitis and the review of the few similar reported cases in the literature showed that this presentation is usually associated with a severe disease course, and an asymmetrical joint involvement that is unresponsive to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents. CONCLUSION: Clinicians should be aware of this unusual presentation of ankylosing spondylitis, which should be included in the list of aetiologies of fever of unknown origin, to avoid useless diagnostic procedures. The severity of the disease course may lead to the consideration of a more aggressive treatment strategy.

Adhesive capsulitis of shoulder and treatment with protease inhibitors in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection: report of 8 cases.

OBJECTIVE: To describe our experience with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients receiving protease inhibitor therapy who presented with adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder. METHODS: Between July 1996 and December 1999, 8 HIV-infected patients (7 male) treated with protease inhibitors who presented with adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder were retrospectively identified. Diagnosis of adhesive capsulitis relied on clinical features including shoulder pain and both active and passive restricted range of motion (ROM). All available clinical and radiographic data were reviewed. RESULTS: Onset of symptoms was insidious, and at presentation, patients complained of shoulder pain, which was bilateral in 4 of the 8 cases. Physical examination showed global restriction of active and passive ROM of the glenohumeral joint. The mean delay between initiation of HIV protease inhibitors and onset of shoulder pain was 14 months (range 2 to 36). The protease inhibitor therapy always included indinavir. No underlying condition associated with secondary adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder, including shoulder trauma, diabetes mellitus, thyroid disease, pulmonary or cardiac diseases could be identified. In all 8 patients, despite continuation of therapy with indinavir, both shoulder pain and restricted ROM completely resolved, after a mean disease course of 7.4 months. CONCLUSION: Adhesive capsulitis of shoulder seems to be a new adverse event of HIV protease inhibitor therapy. In all reported cases, patients were treated with indinavir. Further observations will be necessary to confirm adhesive capsulitis as a side effect.