Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0042963 (vomiting)
 31,883 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In 1983, a previously healthy 21-year old mother came to University Hospital in Dijon, France feeling weak and had a severe frontal headache with vomiting. Clinical and biochemical tests were normal. She smoked 20 cigarettes/day and used a high dosed combined oral contraceptive (OC) (ethinyl estradiol and cyproterone acetate). 15 days later, the headache returned and she could not understand spoken words and the bilateral section of the brain had slowed. Yet her mental status was normal as were cerebrospinal fluid and cerebral computerized tomography tests. The antiherpes virus drug, vidabarine, did not alleviate symptoms. At least 1 month later, a severe left pulmonary embolism caused acute right heart failure. She also had a prethrombotic left iliac vein, so physicians began heparin therapy, adding nifedipine and buflomedil to control the spasms in the right internal iliac artery and both external iliac arteries. Acute ischemia of the lower limbs eased within a week but sensory disorders remained for 2 months. Satisfactory collaterality transpired due to a blocked left external iliac artery and left iliac vein. The following signs and symptoms indicated her condition to be homocystinuria: blond hair with deep blue eyes, macrocytic anemia, factor VII deficit (51%), strong positive Brandt's reaction, cystine homocystine in the plasma, and presence of homocystine, cystathionine, and methionine in the urine. Physicians took her off the OC and discharged her on vitamin B6/day, folic acid/day, betaine citrate/day, and the anticoagulant Coumadin. A subsequent check of her 19-year old sister found she had it too. They assessed the patient's condition yearly. In 1988, her left leg developed edema and she limped when not using elastic stockings. Effects of iliac vein phlebitis were evident. She no longer suffered from headaches. Since plasma methionine was within the normal range and homocystine no longer was present in plasma and urine, the physicians halted the anticoagulant therapy. In conclusion, the OC precipitated this partial form of homocystinuria.
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PMID:Vascular manifestations in homocystinuria. 161 Jun 63

The association between cancer and venous thromboembolism (VTE) is well established. Importantly, VTE is a significant cause of mortality in cancer patients. Although long-term warfarin (Coumadin(trade mark); Bristol-Myers Squibb; New York, NY) therapy is the mainstay of treatment for cancer patients with VTE, there are many practical problems with its use in this population. In particular, achieving therapeutic drug levels is difficult in cancer patients due to the increased risk of drug interactions, malnutrition, vomiting, and liver dysfunction in these patients. Moreover, cancer patients are at an increased risk of adverse effects of warfarin therapy. In contrast, low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) are associated with a lower risk of adverse events compared with warfarin in patients with cancer. These agents also offer practical advantages compared with warfarin, including more predictable anticoagulant effects and ease of administration in addition to possible antineoplastic effects. Several LMWHs have demonstrated superior efficacy to warfarin in the secondary prevention of VTE. In particular, the LMWH, dalteparin (Fragmin; Pfizer; New York, NY), has recently been shown to have superior efficacy to warfarin in a large trial of patients with cancer and VTE without increasing the risk of bleeding. A randomized trial of dalteparin has also shown improved response rates and survival in patients with small cell lung cancer. In view of the availability of more effective and reliable alternatives to warfarin therapy in cancer patients, it is appropriate to reassess the role of warfarin therapy in patients with cancer and VTE. Further evaluation of the LMWHs for effects on cancer outcome is indicated.
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PMID:Warfarin versus low-molecular-weight heparin therapy in cancer patients. 1563 54