Une carte des principaux types de peuplements forestiers de Belgique et du Nord de la France

La connaissance de la ressource forestière à l’échelle d’une région ou d’un pays est un préalable à la mise en place d’une politique forestière réfléchie. Complémentaire aux inventaires par échantillonnage, la télédétection constitue une source alternative d’information pour la description des ressources forestières aux échelles régionales, nationales et transnationales. Avec le lancement récent des satellites Sentinel-1 et Sentinel-2 (Copernicus) en 2014-2016, l’offre en image satellitaire a connu une petite révolution. Ces nouvelles données ont agrandi le champ des possibles en termes de cartographie des forêts et de leur composition spécifique. Dans ce contexte, une méthode a été développée pour cartographier les principaux types de peuplement de Belgique et du Nord de la France. Bien que la précision atteinte à ce jour reste trop faible pour en faire un outil de gestion local suffisamment fiable, les résultats ont démontré le très grand potentiel des images Sentinel pour réaliser la cartographie des essences forestière sur une échelle transfrontalière. Cette approche en développement laisse entrevoir des améliorations conséquentes à moyen termes pour soutenir les acteurs de la gestion forestière

Feasibility and cost of FH cascade screening in Belgium (BEL-CASCADE) including a novel rapid rule-out strategy

BACKGROUND: Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is underdiagnosed in most countries. We report our first experience from a national pilot project of cascade screening in relatives of FH patients. METHODOLOGY: Participating specialists recruited consecutive index patients (IP) with Dutch Lipid Clinic Network (DLCN) score ≥6. After informed consent, the relatives were visited by the nurses to collect relevant clinical data and perform blood sampling for lipid profile measurement. FH diagnosis in the relatives was based on the DLCN and/or MEDPED FH (Make-Early-Diagnosis-to-Prevent-Early-Deaths-in-FH) criteria. RESULTS: In a period of 18 months, a total of 127 IP (90 with definite FH and 37 with probable FH) were enrolled in 15 centres. Out of the 270 relatives visited by the nurses, 105 were suspected of having FH: 31 with DCLN score >8, 33 with DLCN score 5-8 and 41 with MEDPED FH criteria. In a post-hoc analysis, another set of MEDPED FH criteria established in the Netherlands and adapted to Belgium allowed to detect FH in 51 additional relatives. CONCLUSION: In a country with no national FH screening program, our pilot project demonstrated that implementing a simple phenotypical FH cascade screening strategy using the collaboration of motivated specialists and two nurses, allowed to diagnose FH in 127 index patients and an additional 105 of their relatives over the two-year period. Newly developed MEDPED FH cut-offs, easily applicable by a nurse with a single blood sample, might further improve the sensitivity of detecting FH within families.status: publishe

Feasibility and cost of FH cascade screening in Belgium (BEL-CASCADE) including a novel rapid rule-out strategy

Background: Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is underdiagnosed in most countries. We report our first experience from a national pilot project of cascade screening in relatives of FH patients. Methodology: Participating specialists recruited consecutive index patients (IP) with Dutch Lipid Clinic Network (DLCN) score ≥6. After informed consent, the relatives were visited by the nurses to collect relevant clinical data and perform blood sampling for lipid profile measurement. FH diagnosis in the relatives was based on the DLCN and/or MEDPED FH (Make-Early-Diagnosis-to-Prevent-Early-Deaths-in-FH) criteria. Results: In a period of 18 months, a total of 127 IP (90 with definite FH and 37 with probable FH) were enrolled in 15 centres. Out of the 270 relatives visited by the nurses, 105 were suspected of having FH: 31 with DCLN score >8, 33 with DLCN score 5-8 and 41 with MEDPED FH criteria. In a post-hoc analysis, another set of MEDPED FH criteria established in the Netherlands and adapted to Belgium allowed to detect FH in 51 additional relatives. Conclusion: In a country with no national FH screening program, our pilot project demonstrated that implementing a simple phenotypical FH cascade screening strategy using the collaboration of motivated specialists and two nurses, allowed to diagnose FH in 127 index patients and an additional 105 of their relatives over the two-year period. Newly developed MEDPED FH cut-offs, easily applicable by a nurse with a single blood sample, might further improve the sensitivity of detecting FH within families.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe