Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0039483 (giant cell arteritis)
 3,204 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Until recent years, main biologic markers of inflammation used in current practice were limited to erythrocyte sedimentation rate, fibrinogen, and serum protein electrophoresis. A better understanding of inflammatory mechanisms and improvement of laboratories technologies helped in better understanding of the role and potential usefulness of inflammatory reaction proteins. Arrival of proteic profile and, more recently, the development of automation, still improved analysis of variations of different inflammatory reaction proteins. These proteins are then analyzed as an element of a "functional biological system", with known and so expected kinetics and ranges. The analyze of proteic profile combines the analyze of proteins variations, with elected but not exclusive associations, as Immunoglobulins and Complement, Orosomucoid and Haptoglobin, or Albumin and Transferrin. In Internal Medicine, proteic profile may help in solving daily problems. These problems may be so schematized: when the fundamental pathology is not yet known in an unraveling check-up, facing clinical symptoms, with a normal or fewly disrupted usual biologic panel, proteic profile may help to choose investigations necessary for the diagnosis; in the follow-up of patients treated for known inflammatory pathology facing new symptoms, part has to be done between complication of the disease and/or of the treatment, new pathology associated or unefficiency of the treatment. We report herein part of our experience of proteic profile in an Internal Medicine department, from some particularly demonstrative case reports: congenital or acquired abnormality of iron metabolism, with normal usual iron panel (iron deficiency, hemochromatosis); severe evolutive inflammatory or infectious disease with normal erythrocyte sedimentation rate (temporal arteritis, infectious endocarditis).
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PMID:[Importance of the protein profile in internal medicine]. 751 44

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is always a diagnostic challenge. The causes of FUO are legion and may be due to malignancy, infection, collagen vascular disease, and a variety of other unusual disorders. Currently, malignancies-followed by infectious etiologies-are the most common cause of FUO. We present an elderly female patient with an FUO who was thought to have subacute bacterial endocarditis because of an antecedent history of recent dental work. Subacute bacterial endocarditis was ruled out on the basis of negative cultures and negative transesophageal echocardiography. No evidence for an infectious disease or neoplastic etiology could be demonstrated in this patient. The diagnosis of FUO is most difficult when there is a paucity of clues from the history and physical examination, as was the case in this patient. Nonspecific laboratory tests included highly increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (>or=100 mm/h), highly increased C-reactive protein, relative lymphocytopenia, and chronic thrombocytosis. These findings are compatible with a variety of infectious and inflammatory disorders. No evidence could be found for vasculitis. The only laboratory diagnostic findings present in her case were a highly increased rheumatoid factor titer and perinuclear antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibody level. Polymyalgia rheumatica/temporal arteritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and adult Still's disease were ruled out. The patient's FUO was best explained by the finding of late-onset rheumatoid arthritis (LORA), which is characterized by acute onset in elderly patients without the usual musculoskeletal manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis. Both the highly increased rheumatoid factor titer and perinuclear antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibody level in the absence of an alternate explanation indicate that the FUO in this patient was caused by LORA.
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PMID:Fever of unknown origin caused by late-onset rheumatoid arthritis. 1642 39

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is a common clinical diagnostic dilemma. In the elderly, causes of FUO most commonly include malignancy or infection, and less commonly include collagen vascular diseases. Among the collagen vascular diseases causing FUO in the elderly, polymyalgia rheumatica/temporal arteritis, and adult Still's disease (adult juvenile rheumatoid arthritis) are difficult diagnoses to prove. Among the infectious causes of FUO in the elderly are subacute bacterial endocarditis, intra-abdominal abscesses, and extrapulmonary tuberculosis. In the elderly, neoplastic causes of FUO include lymphomas, hepatomas, renal cell carcinomas, and hepatic or central nervous system metastases. Acute leukemias, particularly during "blast" transformation, may present as acute fevers in the absence of infection, but are rare causes of FUO. Preleukemia/myelodysplastic syndromes are exceedingly rare causes of FUO. We present a case of an elderly man who presented with findings that initially suggested adult Still's disease. Prolonged and profound monocytosis provided the key clue to his subsequent diagnosis of preleukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome. In this patient, a positive Naprosyn test result also suggested a neoplastic cause for his FUO. After months of prolonged fevers, myelocytes/metamyelocytes were eventually demonstrated in his peripheral smear during hospital evaluation. These findings, in concert with the persistent monocytosis, highly elevated ferritin levels, polyclonal gammopathy on serum protein electrophoresis, and eventual presence of myelocytes/metamyelocytes on peripheral smear, prompted a bone marrow test that demonstrated blast cells confirming the diagnosis of preleukemia myelodysplastic syndrome as the cause of this patient's FUO.
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PMID:Fever of unknown origin due to preleukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome: the diagnostic importance of monocytosis with elevated serum ferritin levels. 1686

Fever of unknown origin is defined by fever lasting more than 3 weeks, with no diagnose despite a consequent work-up. 4 subgroups were determined: infectious fever, such as subacute bacterial endocarditis, tuberculosis or intra-abdominal abcess, inflammatory diseases such as temporal arteritis or adult Still's disease, neoplastic disorders, and miscellaneous causes. About one third of patients have no diagnosis at the end of the work up, and for those the prognose is usually good. There is no algorithm to know which tests to order: focused history and detailled physical status give important clues to decide about additionnal laboratories testing. An empirical treatment is justified only in case of vital risk.
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PMID:[Various causes of fever of unknown origin]. 1900 42