Revue médicale de Liège
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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is one of the multiple pathologies included in the large family of diffuse interstitial parenchymal lung diseases (IPD). The latter represent a large group of about 200 different diseases, most of which are orphan diseases. Recently, some new therapeutic options have appeared that require an early and accurate diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis.
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Ketamine or -ketamine hydrochloride- is used as an anesthesic and a painkiller. It may also, in some indications, be prescribed in psychiatry and addictology. A literature review was conducted from 2003 to 2013, in PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, and Psyclnfo, using the following key words (alone or combined): "ketamine", "abuse", "addiction", "dependence" and "misuse". ⋯ Others have demonstrated beneficial effects in alcohol or opiate abstinence maintenance. Ketamine seems to be a promising molecule in psychiatry and in the treatment of addictions, despite the absence of marketing approval for those specific uses. Being a strong psycho-stimulant, ketamine can be the source of abuse and dependence with somatic, psychiatric and cognitive complications.
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Revue médicale de Liège · Mar 2014
[How I treat ... out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The role of the emergency medical dispatcher].
Sudden cardiac arrest is an event associated with a very low survival rate. The latter is inversely proportional to the duration of the cardiovascular arrest. The chain of survival concept is a sequence of 4 events to be carried out as fast as possible with a view to ensure the patient's survival. ⋯ The implementation of this plan to improve the quality of call handling required training and assessment of impacts on beneficiaries. The research datashow a reduction of the duration of cardiac arrest, an increase in resuscitation initiated by a witness, an improved survival rate, and a decreased stress and unanimous approval of dispatchers. Currently, the process is being improved and sustained.
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Revue médicale de Liège · Feb 2014
Review[Alpha-2 adrenoreceptor agonists in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine].
Alpha-2 adrenoreceptor agonists have long been used in the treatment of arterial hypertension. However, in that indication they have progressively been replaced by antihypertensive drugs with a more interesting therapeutic profile. Nonetheless, pharmacological activation of alpha-2 adrenoreceptors leads to a variety of clinical effects that are of major interest for anaesthesia and intensive care practice. ⋯ Furthermore, alpha-2 adrenoreceptor agonists are potent adjuncts for locoregional anaesthesia. In this article, we will summarize the most frequent applications of alpha-2 adrenoreceptor agonists in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine. We will focus on the clinical data available for the two most representative molecules of this pharmacological class: clonidine and dexmedetomidine.