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Biomedical subjects

A Casanova

Publications and source records attributed to A Casanova.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Cocket syndrome: thrombotic-septic disease post-appendicectomy complication.

The incidence of complications following treatment of acute appendicitis in childhood is lower than 5%, while thromboembolic disease at that age is exceptional. The case of a 13-year-old male who was operated on in our pediatric surgery department for acute gangrenous appendicitis is presented. His condition improved until the sixth day after the operation when he suffered thrombosis in both the left iliac vein and the inferior cava. Ultrasonography, plethysmography and computer tomography (CT) studies were carried out and a diagnosis of venous thrombosis was made with an underlying congenital vascular malformation where the iliac vein was compressed by the overlying iliac artery; known as the Cocket syndrome. The etiology diagnosis and treatment of this rare disease in childhood is reviewed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Central hypoventilation syndrome associated with ganglioneuroblastoma.

In this paper the authors describe a case of central hyperventilation syndrome associated with a neural crest tumor. The girl had several apneic spells at the age of three years. She had a tracheostomy and mechanically assisted ventilation while asleep. Routine hematologic studies and chest x-ray were within normal limits. Computerized tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a left paraspinal mass suggestive of a neural crest tumor. This mass was excised and histopathologic findings of this tumor revealed a ganglioneuroblastoma.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1994

Insulin and lipogenesis in rat adipocytes. II. Effect of high levels of insulin and glucose on lipid synthesis in isolated rat adipocytes.

Insulin resistant states are characterized by receptor and post-receptor defects in insulin action. When the insulin resistant state progresses, elevated levels of insulin are accompanied by increasing levels of glucose. In a previous paper we demonstrated that treatment of isolated adipocytes with high levels of insulin led to a decrease in insulin binding as well as a decrease in basal and insulin-stimulated lipid synthesis. The results of the present study establish that the addition of high concentrations of glucose in combination with a high level of insulin, does not modify the decrease in binding of insulin to its receptor. However, the decrease in lipid synthesis previously observed in the presence of high concentrations of insulin was completely overcome by the presence of high glucose.

Adipocytes↗
PubMed1994

[Renal adenocarcinoma in children. Report of a case].

Description of the accidental finding of a renal adenocarcinoma in a 10-year old boy, after abdominal trauma and with a good evolutive behaviour. The clinical, diagnostic, therapeutical and survival aspects are analyzed, including a literature update of a renal neoformation which shows lower paediatric incidence than Wilm's Tumour or Neuroblastoma.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1993

Thrice-weekly cotrimoxazole is better than weekly dapsone-pyrimethamine for the primary prevention of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in HIV-infected patients.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of two intermittent regimens for the simultaneous primary prevention of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and toxoplasmosis in HIV-infected patients. DESIGN: Prospective randomized open trial. SETTING: HIV outpatient clinic of an Infectious Disease Service and a 1000-bed university teaching hospital. PATIENTS: A total of 166 HIV-infected patients with a CD4 cell count < 200 x 10(6)/l or a CD4 percentage < 20%, without previous PCP or toxoplasmosis. INTERVENTION: Patients were randomized to oral (1) cotrimoxazole [160 mg trimethoprim (TMP) and 800 mg sulphamethoxazole (SMX)] twice a day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (n = 81), or (2) dapsone (100 mg) plus pyrimethamine (25 mg) (DP) once a week (n = 85). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical and biological evaluation was performed every 30-60 days. End-points were PCP, toxoplasmosis and death. Adverse reactions were considered as defined in the protocol. RESULTS: After a mean follow-up of 380 days, intention-to-treat analysis revealed that DP patients had a higher rate of PCP [13 out of 85 (15.2%) versus three out of 81 (3.7%); P = 0.01]. The cumulative rates of PCP at 12 and 24 months were 5 and 42% for DP patients and 3 and 10% for TMP-SMX patients, respectively (Mantel-Cox, P = 0.0007). Of the 29 patients who died during follow-up, 14 were in the TMP-SMX group and 15 in the DP group (not significant). Two patients in the TMP-SMX group and three in the DP group developed toxoplasmosis (not significant). Adverse reactions were common (66.7% of TMP-SMX patients and 42.4% of DP patients; P = 0.001). However, only 12.3% of TMP-SMX patients and 2.3% of DP patients (P = 0.01) had to discontinue therapy because of toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: At the given doses, DP was inferior to TMP-SMX in preventing first episodes of PCP. Although more patients and a longer follow-up are required, the regimens appeared to prevent toxoplasmosis equally well.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1993

Low-dose interferon alpha combined with zidovudine in patients with AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma.

Forty patients with AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) treated with the combination of interferon alpha-2b (IFN-alpha) 10-20 MU day-1 and zidovudine (ZDV), 500-800 mg day-1, were evaluated for safety and efficacy. Eighteen patients (45%) had an overall response (CR+PR) at 3 months and a response persisting for a median of 14 (3-27) months. Patients with a CD4 count of less than 300 mm-3, prior to opportunistic infections or constitutional symptoms, were less likely to respond. However, between 28.5% and 36% of patients with a low CD4 count did respond to combined therapy. This is higher than would be predicted from single agent IFN-alpha therapy. Twelve of 28 patients (42.8%) receiving 10 MU day-1 of IFN-alpha (low dose) had an overall response. In addition, patients tolerated this dose of IFN-alpha better, presenting fewer flu-like symptoms and displayed a trend toward less anaemia. p24 antigen decreased in six out of nine evaluable cases, four of whom were treated with low-dose IFN-alpha. Low-dose IFN-alpha plus ZDV seems to be a useful and well-tolerated therapy for KS with antitumoral and antiviral activity. Patients without 'bad prognostic markers' are most likely to show improvement.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1992

Insulin and lipogenesis in rat adipocytes. I. Effect of insulin incubation on lipid synthesis by isolated rat adipocytes.

To assess the effect of insulin on lipid synthesis in isolated rat adipocytes, cells were preincubated for 3 h with high concentrations (16.6 nM) of the hormone and lipogenesis measured through 14C-acetate incorporation into lipids, analyzing at the same time the activity of some lipogenic enzymes. It was found that insulin induced not only a decrease in the number of insulin receptors but a 30% loss in basal and insulin-stimulated acetate incorporation into total lipids as well as a decrease in the activities of enzymes related to the novo fatty acid synthesis pathway as malic enzyme and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase.

Acetates↗
PubMed1990

Clindamycin vs penicillin for anaerobic lung infections. High rate of penicillin failures associated with penicillin-resistant Bacteroides melaninogenicus.

Thirty-seven adult patients with anaerobic lung infections (27 lung abscesses and 10 necrotizing pneumonias) were submitted to transthoracic needle-aspiration and/or bronchoscopic specimen brush cultures before therapy and thereafter in all cases considered to be failures. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either clindamycin, 600 mg intravenously every 6 hours, or penicillin G, 2 million U every 4 hours for no less than 8 days, until clinical and radiological improvement became apparent. Treatment was continued orally with clindamycin, 300 mg every 6 hours, or penicillin V, 750 mg every 6 hours, until completing a minimum of 4 weeks. Ten of the 47 anaerobes initially isolated from the lung (nine Bacteroides melaninogenicus and one Bacteroides capillosus) were resistant to penicillin, but none were resistant to clindamycin. Five of the nine patients harboring these penicillin-resistant Bacteroides received penicillin, and all failed to respond to therapy. Overall, eight of the 18 patients in the penicillin group and one of 19 in the clindamycin group failed to respond to therapy. These drugs were equally well tolerated in both groups. The presence of penicillin-resistant Bacteroides is a frequent cause of penicillin failure in patients with anaerobic lung infections. In this setting, clindamycin appears to be the current therapy of choice for initial treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Cystic teratoma of the mesentery.

Cystic teratoma is an unusual cause of mesenteric/omental cysts. A case of cystic teratoma of the mesentery in a 5-year-old girl is reported.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1989

[Conservative treatment of urethral stenosis in childhood].

During a 19 years period (1969-March 1988) 22 children presented for treatment of urethral strictures. The patients ranged in age from neonatal period to 13 years old, 20 of them were boys and 2 girls. We have found 3 congenital cases, 5 traumatic cases, 9 inflammatory (versus infections) cases and 5 iatrogenic cases. Diagnosis can be suspected from the history and physical examination (voided stream), and confirmed radiographically and endoscopically; we have employed urodynamics studies in 2 cases, and those have seem of much important the follow-up. Treatment is controversial between different authors. In ours series progressive dilatation procedure have been elective (retrograde swelling catheter versus anterograde swelling catheter with cytostomy), with 86.3% of good results.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Tetanus and botulinum toxins block the release of acetylcholine from slices of rat striatum and from the isolated electric organ of Torpedo at different concentrations.

Tetanus toxin, like botulinum toxin type A, blocks cholinergic synaptic transmission at the central and peripheral nervous systems. Nevertheless, the diseases induced by the two toxins are different since tetanus toxin induces a spastic paralysis and botulinum toxin elicits a flaccid paralysis. Thus, we have investigated the sensitivity of a central and a peripheral cholinergic synapse to these two toxins. We have studied the action of both poison on the release of acetylcholine from slices of the rat striatum and from the isolated electric organ of Torpedo, which is homologous to the neuromuscular junction. Acetylcholine release from the rat striatum was continuously monitored by a chemiluminescent method. The secretion of acetylcholine from the electric organ was estimated both by measuring the amplitude of the evoked electrical discharge from stacks of electroplaques, and by continuously monitoring the neurotransmitter release from isolated nerve terminals. Tetanus toxin blocks the electrical discharge of electric organ prisms, and also impairs the release of acetylcholine from the Torpedo electric organ nerve endings. Our results on acetylcholine release show that tetanus toxin is more potent than botulinum toxin type A at the central cholinergic synapse (tetanus/botulinum toxins potency ratio about 100-200) whereas botulinum toxin is the most potent at the peripheral cholinergic synapse (botulinum/tetanus toxins potency ratio about 100).

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1987

[Computerized management in the surveillance of nosocomial infections].

A personal computerised system was developed for the on-going assessment and monitoring of hospital infections. The system involves the computer processing of clinical analyses. It also selects and statistically processes the data from microbiological tests conducted on hospital patients and staff. The system makes it possible to monitor the microbiological situation of the hospital environment with particular reference to the air, surfaces, instruments and material. In this way it is possible to identify the outbreak of minor hospital epidemics and to monitor their evolution and spread.

Air Microbiology↗
PubMed1986

Etiological agent and primary source of infection in 42 cases of focal intracranial suppuration.

The microbiological findings for 42 patients with focal intracranial suppuration were analyzed and correlated with the different sources of primary infection. Streptococcus spp. were identified in focal intracranial suppuration of all origins except postcraniotomy. Microaerophilic streptococci were important in cases secondary to respiratory tract infection and in those of unknown origin. Streptococcus faecalis, Proteus spp., and Bacteroides fragilis were the organisms most commonly found in polymicrobial otogenic abscesses. Clostridium sp. was the main microorganism implicated in postcraniotomy suppurations.

Adolescent↗