Revue médicale de Liège
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Revue médicale de Liège · Jan 2014
[Uncontrolled asthma: importance of phenotypes and local and systemic eosinophilia].
Asthma is a complex chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. Eosinophilia is a recognized feature of asthma. Asthma is no more considered as a single disease, but there are several subtypes of bronchial asthma, also called phenotypes, that have therapeutic and prognostic implications. ⋯ An eosinophilic phenotype can lbe suspected in case of concomitant increase of exhaled nitric oxide, blood eosinophils, IgE levels and airway obstruction. We have also identified a subgroup of asthmatics exhibiting diffuse local and systemic eosinophilia. This subgroup has a more severe asthma,a lower asthma control and a higher number of exacerbations.
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Agitation in psychiatry is defined as "a request to which an answer cannot be deferred". If some types of controllable agitation can be solved by human means or psychotropic drugs, others may require the intervention of intensivists who will contribute to the onset of crisis resolution. In addition, an organic aetiology must be carefully excluded a before considering a psychiatric origin of agitation, especially in patients with no psychiatric history and in the elderly. Indeed, acute agitation can hide serious somatic traps and be life threatening.
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Revue médicale de Liège · Oct 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study[Hokusai-VTE: edoxaban versus warfarin for the treatment of symptomatic venous thromboembolism].
Currently venous thromboembolic disease (VTE), i.e. deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality all around the world. The Hokusai-VTE study is a randomized, double-blind trial to evaluate whether initial heparin (5 days) followed by the oral Xa factor inhibitor edoxaban (60 mg once daily) may be an alternative to the standard therapy, i.e. heparin (5 days) followed by warfarin (INR of 2.0-3.0) for the prevention of recurrent thromboembolism in patients with acute symptomatic VTE. In patients with VTE, including pulmonary embolism with right ventricular dysfunction, treatment with heparin followed by oral edoxaban 60 mg once daily was non inferior to the standard treatment with respect to efficacy and superior with respect to bleeding (fewer fatal and intracranial bleeds, but no statistical significance regarding major bleeding). Reducing the dosage of edoxaban to 30 mg once daily is safe in case of renal impairment and low body weight.
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The 2013 guidelines for arterial hypertension have just been released by the European Societies of Cardiology and Hypertension. As already discussed in earlier versions, the decision to treat must be based on the assessment of the cardiovascular risk. ⋯ A novelty, however, consists in the simplification of the blood pressure target under treatment, which must be < 140/90 mmHg in the vast majority of patients, except for octogenerians whose systolic blood pressure target should be < 150 mmHg. For resistant hypertension, renal denervation and carotid baroreceptor stimulation are proposed as new invasive modes of therapy; their clinical values, however, remain to be confirmed.
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Sexual addiction or sexual dependence is characterized by hypersexuality, impaired regulation of sexual desire and sexual compulsivity, including having sex with uncontrolled excessive frequency (5 to 15 sexual acts per day for more than 6 months, from 15 years old). Between 3% and 6% of the adult population (> or =18 years) would have the characteristics of sexual addiction, disorder prevalent in the male population. The addictive processes affect three behavioral domains : motivation-reward, affect regulation and behavioral inhibition. ⋯ Psychiatric comorbidities can be found : anxiety disorders, mood disorders. Several forms of treatment have been tried, using medication, cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychotherapy sessions alternated with exposure therapy in virtual reality. In this article, we will discuss the multiple definitions of hypersexuality and the possibilities of therapeutic approaches.