Bertolotti's syndrome in children: From low-back pain to surgery. A case report.

Bertolotti's syndrome is a little-known and little-discussed pathology. We report the case of a 13-year-old child diagnosed with Bertolotti's syndrome after several years of functional complaints. Conventional radiography was used to diagnose the transverse mega-apophysis of L5, while sectional and functional imaging confirmed a lumbosacral-iliac impingement. In view of the transient efficacy of medical management, surgical resection of the transverse mega-apophysis was performed. The medium-term decline in symptoms was excellent and the patient resumed physical activities without limitation or pain.

[Evaluation of professional practices: Implication of hospital pharmacist in improving care for vulnerable patients]. / Évaluation des pratiques professionnelles : implication du pharmacien hospitalier dans l'amélioration de la prise en charge des patients en précarité.

As drug delivery activity to outpatients in precarious situation is rising continuously, the goal of this work was to perform an assessment of the professional practices of the care pathway of these patients, called PASS in France (permanence d'accès aux soins de santé). At first, two pharmacists did an audit of this care pathway. Then, options for improvement were suggested and established after a multidisciplinary work with pharmacists, physicians and social workers of the relevant services. Finally, after six months, those actions and their impact were evaluated. Over a three-year period, the audit showed an increase by a factor of 1.77 of the average number of prescriptions provided per year. Over the same period, the number of dispensed lines was increased by 2.2 and the annual costs were multiplied per 1.82. The pharmacy department suggested several corrective actions: at first, initiating new schedules suited to the activity; then, making adjustments in the reception zone; but also, establishing two new specific prescriptions and 89 helps cards about the most frequently delivered medications. As a result, the time dedicated to drug delivery has been cut in half while the number of pharmaceutical actions remained constant. This assessment of the professional practices showed how hard it is to formalize a transversal circuit as the PASS in hospital. The actions established had improved the organization and the drug delivery activity in the pharmacy department.

[Attitudes and experiences of off-label prescribing among paediatricians in a French university teaching hospital]. / Attitudes et expériences des médecins face à la prescription hors autorisation de mise sur le marché dans un hôpital pédiatrique français.

PURPOSE: The lack of drugs specifically assessed for paediatric use results in a widespread off-label drug use. The aim of this work is to identify experiences and attitudes towards paediatrics off-label prescribing in a university teaching paediatric hospital. METHODS: A questionnaire of 24 items was sent by email to 409 paediatricians in February 2013. DATA COLLECTED: frequency of off-label prescribing, sources of information, concern about safety and adverse events with off-label drug use, proportion of parents informed and order with "off-label" mention. RESULTS: Eighty questionnaires were returned. Over 81% of responders were familiar with the concept of off-label drugs prescribing. The most common reason given for off-label prescribing was for a younger age (74%) and for another indication (28%). They (79%) used a colleague's opinion and the most important sources of information used were the literature (72%), international guidelines (62%), the French National Formulary Vidal (56%) and national guidelines (46%). Although 54% of responders expressed concerns about safety about off-label prescription, only 29% had observed adverse event with off-label drug use. Two third of respondents informed the parents but off-label prescribing cannot be always explained to family. Many respondents (81%) did not write "off-label" mention on prescription. However, 52% stated that they would be willing to undertake off-label prescription monitoring with a local observatory. CONCLUSION: Our study describes the perceptions and attitudes of paediatrician's regarding off-label prescribing for children. Patient information and documentation in the patient file remain incomplete. The prospective collection of off-label prescription will locally be performed.

[Social representations of contention in children: of the viewpoint of pediatric professionals]. / Représentations sociales de la contention en pédiatrie: regards de professionnels.

AIMS: This study is part of a current context raising questions on restraint practices in healthcare at the national and international level. It examines how social representations of restraint organize and shape the discourse of professionals within the context of healthcare and support for sick and/or disabled children. The main objective was to understand how these social representations were expressed in restraint practices. POPULATION AND METHODS: A qualitative method using semi-structured interviews was chosen to meet the goals set out. The research was conducted with 15 healthcare professionals in pediatrics, infant intensive care, and neurorespiratory rehabilitation at Raymond Poincaré Hospital. The data were processed using a content analysis of the thematic type. RESULTS: The results suggest that social representations particularly affect the experience of these professionals and the representations they may have concerning the experience of children, parents, and the role played by the latter in restraint situations. They also show that restraint is a multidimensional object that is difficult to understand, particularly because of the current context of questioning this practice within pediatric departments. CONCLUSION: Despite certain methodological limitations, this study has contributed to a reflective process around restraint practices within a psychosocial approach of understanding the subject and its issues.

[A neonatal case of immunoallergic acute interstitial nephritis]. / Néphropathie interstitielle aiguë immunoallergique néonatale : à propos d'un cas.

Acute interstitial nephritis accounts for about 10 % of the cases of acute renal failure. An adverse drug reaction caused by an immunoallergic mechanism is suggested when fever, skin rash, eosinophilia, and eosinophiluria are associated. The outcome is favorable after withdrawal of drug therapy in most cases. We report a case of acute interstitial nephritis induced by immunoallergic drug mechanisms, in a 3-week-old infant who presented with acute renal failure associated with eosinophilia and hepatitis and who had received cefotaxime and gentamicin. The patient's progression was favorable with normalization of renal and liver function 1 week after suspension of antibiotic drugs.

[Isokinetic comparative study at the third postoperative month after surgery of the anterior cruciate ligament with arthroscopy or after mini-arthrotomy]. / Etude comparative isocinétique au troisième mois post-opératoire après plastie du ligament croisé antérieur sous arthroscopie ou après mini-arthrotomie.

PURPOSE: A double blind prospective study was performed in 64 patients with a clinical and isokinetic assessment three months after anterior cruciate ligament (A.C.L.) reconstruction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This work included 64 patients (47 males and 17 females), divided in two groups: 41 patients had an arthroscopically assisted bone-tendon-bone A.C.L. reconstruction, 17 had an open procedure. The isokinetic records concerned peak torque and muscular work at two different speeds. RESULTS: Three months after surgery there was no significant difference between both groups particularly what concerns the isokinetic assessment in muscular performances. Peak torque in hamstring averaged 151.4 Nm in the open procedure group and 149.2 Nm in the arthroscopically assisted group (p = 0.7), in quadriceps 156.10 Nm vs 149.3 Nm (p = 0.47). DISCUSSION: The advantages of arthroscopy in early muscular recovery are rarely admitted in medical literature. CONCLUSIONS: The favorable opinion of the authors to the arthroscopically assisted A.C.L. reconstruction concerning its rapid muscular recovery abilities is only based on subjective criterions.

Fractures of the odontoid process: a report of 15 cases in children younger than 6 years.

Fractures of the odontoid process are rare in children. We retrospectively reviewed 15 cases in children younger than 6 years, with an average follow-up of 4 years and 3 months. Eight of these patients had neurologic involvement; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes were seen in the spinal cord at the cervicothoracic junction in six. This neurologic injury was thought to be due to the major anterior displacement of the upper spine, causing spinal cord stretch at the spinal apex of the cervical and thoracic spine. Eight patients secured in forward-facing car seats were injured as the result of motor vehicle accident. Conservatively treated fractures fused without problem. By contrast, the three cases operated on as the initial management of the fracture had complications postoperatively.

Ambulatory treatment of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus-infected orthopedic implants with high-dose oral co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole).

We examined the effectiveness and safety of high-dose oral co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole) for the treatment of orthopedic implants infected with multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus species. The prospective study was conducted between 1989 and 1997 in a university medical center with ambulatory-care services. Patients eligible for the study consisted of those from whom multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus spp. organisms susceptible only to glycopeptides and co-trimoxazole were isolated from their orthopedic implants and for whom there was no contraindication to the treatment. All patients were treated orally with high-dose co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim, 20 mg/kg of body weight/day; sulfamethoxazole, 100 mg/kg/day). Patients with prosthetic hip infections were treated for 6 months, with removal of any unstable prosthesis after 5 months of treatment; patients with prosthetic knee infections were treated for 9 months, with removal of any unstable prosthesis after 6 months of treatment; and patients with infected osteosynthetic devices were treated for 6 months, with removal of the device after 3 months of treatment, if necessary. Monthly clinical evaluations were conducted until the completion of the treatment, and follow-up examinations were conducted regularly for up to 6 years. The overall treatment success rate was 66.7% (26 of 39 patients), with success rates of 62.5% for patients with prosthetic knee infections, 50% for those with prosthetic hip infections, and 78.9% for those with other device infections. Seventeen of the 28 (60.7%) patients who did not have any orthopedic material removed were cured. Eight patients stopped the treatment because of side effects, and one patient was not compliant. In three patients treatment failed because of the appearance of a resistant bacterium. Long-term oral ambulatory treatment with co-trimoxazole appears to be an effective alternative to the conventional medicosurgical treatment of chronic multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus-infected orthopedic implants which includes long-term intravenous antibiotic therapy combined with surgical debridement and removal of foreign material or its subsequent one- or two-stage replacement.

Schizophrenic patients: physical health and access to somatic care.

This study concerns the state of physical health and the availability of somatic care for 3,470 adult patients diagnosed as schizophrenic according to the research criteria established by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10 F20) and treated in public institutions. These institutions volunteered to participate in the study, whereas the patients were selected at random. Data concerning demographic characteristics, physical health, and access to somatic care are compared to that of a public health survey of a sample of the French population. The present study allows the estimation of ratios for a large number of diseases and of some risk factors among the target group. Heavy smokers and overweight individuals are more numerous among schizophrenics. Pathologies such as epilepsy, diabetes and AIDS infection are overrepresented. Patients' access to somatic care is more prevalent than that of the general population overall, similar to that of the less qualified workers or unemployed group. In this study, gender does not appear to allow prediction of care use for schizophrenics in contrast to the general population.

No season-of-birth effect in schizophrenic patients from a tropical island in the Southern Hemisphere.

The distribution of birth rates was examined in 668 schizophrenic patients born in Réunion, a tropical French island in the Southern Hemisphere, and compared with that in the general local population. We failed to observe a significant season-of-birth effect, either in the total sample of schizophrenic patients or in subgroups categorized by gender, age, or family history of schizophrenia. Seasonal factors do not appear to affect the yearly distribution of births among schizophrenic patients on Réunion Island. It is nevertheless possible that environmental factors which are seasonal in countries with more contrasting climates have a continuous effect, throughout the whole year, in subtropical areas. Conversely, these findings provide some evidence against the hypothesis that there is an age-incidence artifact in seasonal studies from countries in the Northern Hemisphere.

[Retrospective analysis of 78 surgically repaired fractures of the radial head]. / Analyse rétrospective d'une série de 78 fractures de la tête radiale opérées.

The authors present a analysis of 78 cases of radial head fracture operated in the same department. 16 cases were added to the first study of 62 cases operated between 1967 and 1988 and published in 1991. According to the Mason classification modified by Morrey, there were 22 type II, 24 type III and 32 type IV. Surgical treatment consisted in an osteosynthesis in 35 cases, a fracture fragment excision in 9 cases, a resection of the head in 24 cases, a silastic prosthesis in 10 cases. The results have been studied on a functional and radiological basis with follow-up from 2 to 23 years (mean 5 years). The authors noted the good results of the type II fractures which had an osteosynthesis, the satisfactory results in more than 50% of the cases with resection of the radial head. The comparison of both series established the absence of prosthesis in the recent one. The poor results of the comminutive fractures with elbow dislocation lead the authors to consider the prothesis in these fractures, as a possible indication.

[Tuberculosis of the greater trochanter. Apropos of 2 cases]. / Trochantérite tuberculeuse: A propos de deux cas.

INTRODUCTION: The authors report two cases of tuberculosis of the greater trochanter as an uncommon localization in osseous tuberculosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 1st case: A 77 year old male presented with hip pain and swelling. Laboratory studies revealed an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The patient had a positive skin test reaction for tuberculosis. Radiographs showed greater trochanter remodeling. M.R.I. demonstrated a bilobed abscess. There were enough arguments to initiate medical treatment, before surgery: excision of the abscess and partial trochanteric resection. 2nd case: In a 51 year old male, a large lytic lesion of the whole greater trochanter suggesting benign bone tumors was found an radiographs after a traumatism. Curettage and grafting were undertaken. The final diagnosis was made with the results of the intra-operative samples culture of and led to appropriate medical treatment. RESULTS: The outcome was good in both cases with four years follow-up for the first case, and two years for the second one. DISCUSSION: Trochanteritis Tuberculosis occurs in 1.8 per cent of bony tuberculosis cases. Local symptoms are discrete and the diagnosis is belatedly made when the tuberculous abscess appears. Radiographs and CT scan show the bony lesions: unevenness of the contours of the trochanter and several gaps in it. MRI shows the abscess and its spread. The microbiological test (when antibiotic therapy has not been initiated) and anatomo-pathological tests confirm the diagnosis. General treatment is based on a six month long specific antibiotic therapy. Local treatment concerns the abscess and the bony lesions. As the case may be; careful curettage is undertaken, or wide excision is performed.

[Quality of life in children with chronic disease. Review of the literature and conceptual aspects]. / La qualité de vie chez l'enfant atteint de maladie chronique. Revue de la littérature et aspects conceptuels.

Most studies of the literature concerning the quality of life of children with chronic illness have been conducted in the somatic field, using objective criteria. However the concept of quality of life has evolved: while the first studies took into consideration the effects of somatic diseases on children or on their families, the recent studies tend to focus on the coping strategies developed by the families. The authors emphasize two main points concerning the evaluation and the concept of quality of life: 1) the measures of the quality of life should be "dynamic", i.e. they should deal with the developmental changes of the child; 2) due to the difficulty to clearly define the concept and to the variability of the available informations, a "convergence" notion should be preferably used: i.e. information should be collected from several sources (professionals, families and children) and should concern most domains of the child's life: school, health, games, relational life.

[Childhood difficulties: representations by the family and caregivers; value of interviews]. / Les difficultés de l'enfant: représentations de la famille et des soignants; intérêt d'une enquête.

This investigation was conducted in 7 consultation centers in child psychiatry of the Lyon region (France). The aim was to evaluate the influence of the care professional's response to the demands of the consulting party, on the evolution of the child. The investigation is based on what is said about the difficulties of the child, as manifested in the way care professionals, parents and children perceive them. Relevant instruments and a reliable methodology are used in assessing these various parameters. Results indicate that what happens in the first interview might be more important than the effective type of intervention in determining the evolution of the subsequent intervention.

[Study of the uni-dimensionality of the Yesavage-Brinck geriatric depression scale. Comparison between classical methods and Rasch's model]. / Etude sur l'unidimensionnalité de l'échelle de dépression gériatrique de Yesavage et Brink. Comparaison entre méthodes classiques et modèle de Rasch.

The authors present a contribution to the french validation of the self-rating questionnaire of the depression in the elderly proposed by Yesavage and Brink (1982), the Geriatric Depression Scale (30 items). This study focusses on the assessment of the homogeneity and of the unidimensionality of this scale. 99 aged women living in old-people homes or attending a geriatric somatic day-hospital, not known to be psychiatrically ill, filled the GDS and were interviewed by either a psychiatrist or by a clinical psychologist. This interview yielded 44 cases of Major Depressive Disorder or of Dysthymia (DSM III). Firstly, we have applied the classical correlational methods of assessment of scale Reliability and Construct Validity: Cronbach's coefficient alpha and item-total correlations (homogeneity) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) without rotation. Then, we have performed a Rasch Model Analysis: this method which belongs to the general frame of Latent Trait Theory relies on a probabilistic model of subject's response to individual questions. In the Rasch model, the response probability of a given subject to a given item is a logistic function of the difference between the item location parameter and the subject location parameter along a single continuous latent dimension. Our results have shown that the Cronbach's alpha was very high (.902) and that the item-total correlations were quite satisfactory (mean .470), thus giving a strong impression of homogeneity (similar to unidimensionality for many authors).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Outcome of care in a pediatric psychiatry outpatient clinic: "photography" of seven consultation centers]. / Le parcours des consultants en pédopsychiatrie: "photographie" de sept centres de consultation.

A survey was carried out on 7 pedopsychiatric outpatient centres in the area of Lyon in order to evaluate the general outcome of care in consulting children and their families. Five public centres (centres médico-psychologiques) and 2 non-profit making private centres (centre médico-psychopédagogiques and centre d'action médico-sociale précoce) were part of the survey which included 706 children and adolescents. The survey showed that many children stop attending these centres; although, the numbers were significantly higher in the public centres compared with the non-profit making private centres. The authors suggest that differences in status and management between the two types of centres, leading to different conditions of functioning, on a practical as well as on a symbolic level, may be responsible, at least in part, for the different outcome in care between the 2 types of centres.

[Mortality survey of treated mentally ill patients. Methodological reflections]. / Enquête de mortalité des malades mentaux en soins. Réflexions méthodologiques.

All the studies performed in many industrialized countries have shown that the mortality-rates of mentally-ill patients are higher than expected, despite of a recent trend indicating a diminishing difference by comparison with control-groups (review in Corten et al). In France, the works by Casadebaig and Quemada focused on the mortality-rates of psychiatric in-patients from 1968 to 1982 cannot unfortunately be performed nowadays because of an administrative change in the nation-wide death-registration. This is the main reason for the purpose of a longitudinal study on this topic for the next years in our country. The chief goals are concerned with public health and with analytical epidemiology: defining the Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMR) globally and by cause of death for the most typical clinical groups. Methodology and feasibility. The main methodological issues have to be examined first before implementation. Theoretically, one should wait that a multicentric longitudinal survey could be representative of the whole population of french mentally in and out-patients. Actually, this study will be more likely performed with collaborative centers agreeing for data-collection; and secondly, it will be necessary to control that these collaborative centers do not differ significantly from the other public psychiatry-departments for the main variables that may influence the mortality-rates. The definition of cases and their identification will be done according to the International Classification of Disorders (ICD) considering its ninth and tenth revision. This research also needs to include a large number of patients because of statistical constraints.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Mortality of mentally ill patients. Review of the literature]. / Mortalité des malades mentaux. Revue de la littérature.

UNLABELLED: Overmortality among psychiatric patients has been a regular observation from the XIXth century to nowadays. If the rates of mortality have decreased in these last fifty years, they still remain higher than in the general population Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR) (two or three times greater than normal). The authors reviewed 53 recent articles from european, north american, japanese and israelian researches on this question. Most of them proceed from crossings between psychiatric case register and death-register, and concern inpatients only (Brook, Giel, Saugstad, Mortensen, Herman, Haugland, Rorsman, Sturt, Winokur, Zilber). Some take into account outpatients as well (Eastwood, Koranyi, Martin, Ribourdouille). SMR are calculated and comparisons are made between different groups by sex, age, diagnosis and cause of death. Those are usually divided into 2 categories: natural deaths somatic diseases) and unnatural deaths (suicides-accidents). MAIN RESULTS: Among the patients, mortality rates are higher for men than women, but SMR are higher for women. The highest mortality relative risk is observed between 20 and 40 years of age. Except for three authors, unnatural deaths are not sufficient to explain overmortality. SMR for suicides and accidental deaths are decreasing with age; the relative risk is more important for outpatients, men, some specific diagnoses (affective disorders, acute schizophrenia) and during the first two years of the course of the illness. Suicide rates have been increasing among patients these last twenty years. Natural death is more frequent among patients with organic brain syndromes but is also in excess for the other patients. Cardiovascular diseases represent the first cause of mortality but infections (pneumonia-influenza) and metabolic diseases are over-represented.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)