Subclinical myasthenia gravis in thymomas

Background: A proportion of thymoma-patients without a history of myasthenia gravis (MG) before thymectomy, appears to have positive anti-AChR-antibodies in the serum. These subclinical MG-patients could be under diagnosed because analyzation of anti-AChR-antibodies in thymomas is not always performed in patients who did not experience neurological symptoms. The prevalence and long-term outcomes of subclinical MG are never described in literature yet.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 398 consecutive patients who underwent a robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery at the Maastricht University Medical Center+ (MUMC+) between April 2004 and December 2018. In the MUMC+, a robotic approach is the standard surgical approach in patients with thymic diseases. Inclusion criteria were thymomas, thymectomy performed in the MUMC + with a follow-up of at least one year and age above 18 years old. Exclusion criteria were patients with thymic carcinomas, refused participation, or those who were lost to follow-up.Results: Of the 102 included thymoma-patients, 87 patients (85 %) were tested for anti-AChR-antibodies before thymectomy, of which 57 patients were diagnosed with clinical MG and seven subclinical MG-patients were found. Of the 15 patients who were not tested for anti-AChR-antibodies, four more subclinical MG-patients were discovered in the years after thymectomy. The median follow-up time was 62 months. In total, 11 subclinical MG-patients were found, with a mean age of 54 years and predominantly females (64 %). Ten subclinical MG patients (91 %) developed clinical-MG, within six years after thymectomy. Immunosuppressive drugs were prescribed in five patients. Four patients were diagnosed with a recurrence of the thymoma. No surgical mortality was reported. Two patients died due to a myasthenic crisis.Conclusions: The prevalence of subclinical MG in thymomas was found to be 10.8 %. One in four patients who experienced no neurological symptoms before thymectomy, appeared to have anti-AChR-antibodies and 91 % of these patients developed clinical MG within six years after the thymectomy. Analyzing anti-AChR-antibodies in the serum is recommended in all suspected thymomas before a thymectomy is performed

Identité de l'image de sport

L'image de sport et le mouvement depuis les premières chronophotographies. Les mises en scène du sport et le public. L'image de sport, un objet d'étude en devenir. Propositions d'outils d'analyse

Decay of Hypernuclei

We present a nonrelativistic transition potential for the weak strangeness-changing reaction $\Lambda N \to NN$. The potential is based on a one meson exchange model (OME), where, in addition to the long-ranged pion, the exchange of the pseudoscalar $K, \eta$, as well as the vector $\rho, \omega, K^*$ mesons is considered. Results obtained for different hypernuclear decay observables are compared to the available experimental data.Comment: 8 pages. Invited talk given at the KEK-Tanashi International Symposium on Physics of Hadrons and Nuclei. Tokyo, Japan, December 14-17, 1998. In honor of Prof. K. Yazaki. Submitted to Nucl. Phys. A. LateX file (uses espcrc1.sty

Hyperon-nucleon interactions - a chiral effective field theory approach

We construct the leading order hyperon-nucleon potential in chiral effective field theory. We show that a good description of the available data is possible and discuss briefly further improvements of this scheme.Comment: 39 pages, 10 PostScript figure

Correlated ππ\pi\pi and KKˉK\bar K exchange in the baryon-baryon interaction

A dynamical model for correlated two-pion and two-kaon exchange in the baryon- baryon interaction is presented, both in the scalar-isoscalar ($\sigma$) and the vector-isovector ($\rho$) channel. The correlations between the two pseudoscalar mesons are taken into account by means of $\pi\pi - K\bar K$ amplitudes derived from a meson-exchange model, which is in line with the empirical $\pi\pi$ data. It is found that correlated $K\bar K$ exchange plays an important role in the $\sigma$-channel for baryon-baryon states with non- vanishing strangeness. The strength of correlated $\pi\pi$ plus $K\bar K$ exchange in the $\sigma$-channel decreases with the strangeness of the baryon- baryon system becoming more negative. The results for correlated $\pi\pi$- exchange in the vector-isovector channel deviate from what is expected in the naive SU(3) picture for genuine $\rho$-exchange. Shortcomings of a simplified description in terms of sharp mass $\sigma$- and $\rho$-exchange are pointed out.Comment: 51 pages, Latex file, figures available from [email protected]

Hyperon-nucleon scattering and hyperon masses in the nuclear medium

We analyze low-energy hyperon-nucleon scattering using an effective field theory in next-to-leading order. By fitting experimental cross sections for laboratory hyperon momenta below 200 MeV/c and using information from the hypertriton we determine twelve contact-interaction coefficients. Based on these we discuss the low-density expansion of hyperon mass shifts in the nuclear medium.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Soft-core baryon-baryon potentials for the complete baryon octet

SU(3) symmetry relations on the recently constructed hyperon-nucleon potentials are used to develop potential models for all possible baryon-baryon interaction channels. The main focus is on the interaction channels with total strangeness S=-2, -3, and -4, for which no experimental data exist yet. The potential models for these channels are based on SU(3) extensions of potential models for the S=0 and S=-1 sectors, which are fitted to experimental data. Although the SU(3) symmetry is not taken to be exact, the S=0 and S=-1 sectors still provide the necessary constraints to fix all free parameters. The potentials for the S=-2, -3, and -4 sectors, therefore, do not contain any additional free parameters, which makes them the first models of this kind. Various properties of the potentials are illustrated by giving results for scattering lengths, bound states, and total cross sections.Comment: 22 pages RevTex, 6 postscript figure

Pion-Lambda-Sigma Coupling Extracted from Hyperonic Atoms

The latest measurements of the atomic level width in Sigma-hyperonic Pb atom offer the most accurate datum in the region of low-energy Sigma-hyperon physics. Atomic widths are due to the conversion of Sigma-nucleon into Lambda-nucleon. In high angular momentum states this conversion is dominated by the one-pion exchange. A joint analysis of the data of the scattering of negative-Sigma on proton converting into a Lambda and a neutron and of the atomic widths allows to extract a pseudovector pion-hyperon-Sigma coupling constant of 0.048 with a statistical error of +-0.005 and a systematic one of +-0.004. This corresponds to a pseudoscalar coupling constant of 13.3 with a statistical uncertainty of 1.4 and a systematic one of 1.1.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, Use of Revtex.st