Scientific MOOCs follower. Author of Airpocalypse, a techno-medical thriller (Out Summer 2017)


Welcome to the digital era of biology (and to this modest blog I started in early 2005).

To cure many diseases, like cancer or cystic fibrosis, we will need to target genes (mutations, for ex.), not organs! I am convinced that the future of replacement medicine (organ transplant) is genomics (the science of the human genome). In 10 years we will be replacing (modifying) genes; not organs!


Anticipating the $100 genome era and the P4™ medicine revolution. P4 Medicine (Predictive, Personalized, Preventive, & Participatory): Catalyzing a Revolution from Reactive to Proactive Medicine.


I am an early adopter of scientific MOOCs. I've earned myself four MIT digital diplomas: 7.00x, 7.28x1, 7.28.x2 and 7QBWx. Instructor of 7.00x: Eric Lander PhD.

Upcoming books: Airpocalypse, a medical thriller (action taking place in Beijing) 2017; Jesus CRISPR Superstar, a sci-fi -- French title: La Passion du CRISPR (2018).

I love Genomics. Would you rather donate your data, or... your vital organs? Imagine all the people sharing their data...

Audio files on this blog are Windows files ; if you have a Mac, you might want to use VLC (http://www.videolan.org) to read them.

Concernant les fichiers son ou audio (audio files) sur ce blog : ce sont des fichiers Windows ; pour les lire sur Mac, il faut les ouvrir avec VLC (http://www.videolan.org).


And one scleral buckle for retinal detachment, for my Daddy!

The surgery that awaits my father next week:



Ooopsie ... I'd be better off if I hadn't seen this ... The first time he suffered from retinal detachment, my father decided ... to wait and see ... for a few additional days (he was travelling abroad) ... Anyway, thanks to Dr. Frédéric Betis - Hôpital Princesse Grace, Monaco - he was able to recover a good visual acuity, even after retinal detachment involving the macula ... but he still had this macular fold causing him to see double, like he's had too much whisky ... One year passed, and he got used to it, for driving especially ... And then, two weeks ago, here we go again, retinal detachment beckons ... My father was travelling (again), but this time, lesson learned, he got to his surgeon in no time ... another emergency operation ... same procedure: Pneumatic retinopexy and vitrectomy ... meaning you're left with a gas bubble in you eye and must wait for several weeks, until no gas at all is left. Then (and only then) you can "see" if there is a visual loss or not, and if so, what kind of it (central, upper part, lower part) ... My father couldn't see straight lines, he saw them curved ... Pouring some water or wine in a glass was not easy ... But he was able to drive ... The first time he had the surgery, he had to keep looking upward, and sleep on a surelevated surface ... This time the retinal laceration occured on the exact opposite side of the eye, thus he had to do ... just the opposite ... Laying flat, looking on the right side only, and when sitting, keeping his face on his lap ... The week following the surgery has been challenging (no sleep at night, sleepy during the day, aching shoulder and back at all times) ... Last Monday, my father saw his surgeon again, for the first post-op visit ... It was supposed to be okay, keep up with the good job, said the surgeon to my dad ... but he wanted to follow up on him ... So, this morning, my parents are back in the surgeon's office. And this time, there is ... a retinal hole, nice and big ... Operation again. Scheduled next Monday ... This time, the procedure will be a scleral buckling, which I understand is the indication for retinal hole ... The surgeon said to my father he did hesitate during his last operation:  should he do the scleral buckling already?  He thought this was maybe inappropriate:  there was no retinal hole back then, and waking up after a scleral buckling is not very comfortable ... That's why Dr Betis wanted to spare him this, if possible ... Well, it won't be ... The thing is, this will be his second surgery with full anesthesia in less than four weeks ... The good thing is that this time, postop positioning will not be so challenging, in fact it won't even be an issue, because there will be no gas in the eye ... Mind you, he still has got some from the last procedure ... Well I do hope my mon won't get to watch this video - no chance, she's not reading my Blog, too busy for that ...

I understand that with Pneumatic retinopexy and vitrectomy, you try to have the eyeball stick to the retina, according to Mother Nature's plan ... When it is not working any more (because of multiple lacerations and/or retinal hole), then you have to force the retina to stick to the eyeball, with the scleral buckling procedure ... The former procedure is less invasive than the latter (this is why the surgeon hesitated to perform it in the first place) ... I'm grateful that my dad's surgeon was honest and he told my dad about his hesitation and, now, his regret:  my father, 73 years old in just two days, will have to undergo two procedures with full anesthesia instead of one, in less than four weeks ...

7 commentaires:

Ethics, Health and Death 2.0 a dit…

pour le trou rétinien (dans le cas d'un décollement de la rétine), il faut faire la technique du cerclage de l'oeil (voir lien Wikipedia) :

"Le cerclage oculaire dirigé permet la réapplication de la rétine par compression externe du globe oculaire. Cette technique ne nécessite pas l'ouverture de l'œil. C'est une technique efficace dans plus des
trois-quarts des cas."

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9collement_de_r%C3%A9tine

http://www.em-consulte.com/article/138285

http://edouard.benois.pagesperso-orange.fr/cerclage.htm

CONTRAINTES
DE LA CHIRURGIE OPHTALMOLOGIQUE

"Le décollement de rétine est une chirurgie complexe, de longue durée.
Elle peut associer différents gestes : ponction de liquide
sous-rétinien, cryo-application externe ou une photo-coagulation
interne, indentation ou un cerclage, et échange gazeux avec injection d'un tampon interne gazeux. L'utilisation du protoxyde est contre-indiquée dans ce dernier cas. Une vitrectomie peut être réalisée indépendamment d'un décollement de rétine."

Nausées et vomissements postopératoires

"Classiquement élevée en ophtalmologie, l'incidence de ces
vomissements est évaluée entre 16 et 76 % selon le type de chirurgie
et la prévention mise en œuvre [6]. Ils sont particulièrement
fréquents pour la chirurgie du strabisme et du décollement de rétine.
Ils sont potentialisés par la douleur et l'hypertonie oculaire que l'on retrouve fréquemment après un décollement de rétine."

Particularités liées au patient

Une large part de la chirurgie ophtalmique, tout particulièrement la chirurgie de la cataracte s'adresse à des sujets âgés. Ces patients sont fréquemment atteints d'altérations multiples des grandes
fonctions. La polymédication est fréquente, source d'interférences
avec les agents anesthésiques. La demande d'anesthésie ambulatoire est en augmentation. La chirurgie ophtalmologique a cependant une
mortalité et une morbidité cardiovasculaire périopératoires plus faibles que toutes les autres formes de chirurgie confondues."
(Source : http://www.sfar.org/acta/dossier/archives/ca02/html/ca02_21/ca02_21.htm)

Ethics, Health and Death 2.0 a dit…

Voir :

http://chpg.mc/go/service.php3?id_rubrique=29

Ethics, Health and Death 2.0 a dit…

http://www.eurobiomed.org/index.php?id=135

Ethics, Health and Death 2.0 a dit…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scleral_buckle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adie_syndrome

Ethics, Health and Death 2.0 a dit…

http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/scleral-buckling-surgery-for-retinal-detachment

Ethics, Health and Death 2.0 a dit…

http://www.visionrx.com/library/enc/enc_sbuckle.asp

Ethics, Health and Death 2.0 a dit…

http://www.em-consulte.com/article/111327