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Biomedical subjects

A Colombo

Publications and source records attributed to A Colombo.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Two-dimensional echocardiographic evaluation of right ventricular ejection fraction: comparison between three different methods.

Twelve patients with chronic cor pulmonale due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have been examined with 2D echocardiography, performing four-chamber view by apical and subcostal approaches, and the right ventricular outflow tract view by the subcostal approach. These views have permitted evaluation of right ventricular volumes, and hence right ventricular ejection fraction, by the use of three different geometrical formulae: the biplane area-length method, Simpson's rule and the pyramidal method. The ejection fraction values obtained from each method have been compared to those obtained by equilibrium radionuclide angiocardiography. Four-chamber apical and subcostal views were satisfactorily recorded in 10 of the 12 patients (83.3%), and right ventricular outflow tract view in 8 patients (66.6%). No significant statistical differences have been found between measurements obtained from the three different echocardiographic examinations performed on each subject by the same operator, so demonstrating a satisfactory reproducibility of the technique. The highest correlation coefficient for ejection fraction was shown by Simpson's rule (r = 0.96, p less than 0.001), with a very narrow confidence intervals, while the r values for the biplane area-length method was 0.63 (p less than 0.05) and for the pyramidal method 0.50 (not statistically significant), with increasingly wider confidence intervals. The statistically significant difference between the three correlation coefficients demonstrates the higher accuracy of Simpson's rule for the determination of right ventricular ejection fraction.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Incidence of breast cancer in Piedmont: 1979-1981.

A population-based survey of histologically diagnosed breast cancer was carried out among residents in Piedmont. A total of 5267 incident cases occurring in 1979-1981 was collected, corresponding to an age-standardized (on the world population) incidence rate of 49.5/100,000 per year. Rates (standardized on the population of Piedmont in 1981) were highest in the city of Torino (112.4/100,000 per year) and lowest in the province of Cuneo (67.5), whereas in the other provinces they ranged between 85.3 and 90.0. Estimation of rates in the 54 Local Health Authorities of Piedmont detected up to 2-fold differences between adjacent areas. A correlation was found between rates and size of the population of town of residence. Comparison with age-specific incidence rates from the Cancer Registry of the nearby province of Varese suggested a loss of nonhistologically confirmed cases selectively in older age groups. The distribution of cases diagnosed in 1979 by histologic type is presented. The proportion of diagnoses reported in terms which were consistent with the 1978 WHO Histological Typing of Breast Tumours was 61.3%. It was highest among cases identified in Pathology Services located in University Hospitals and/or diagnosing more than 50 breast cancers per year.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Muscle CT, biopsy and EMG in diagnosis of neuromuscular diseases.

The diagnostic value of EMG and muscle biopsy has been compared with muscle CT in 53 patients with neuromuscular diseases. CT concordance with clinical diagnosis was found in 62% of myopathies and was highest in Duchenne PMD and scapulo-peroneal myopathy and very low in metabolic and inflammatory myopathies. In neurogenic diseases muscle CT agreed with clinical diagnosis in 63% of patients: the highest concordance was found in acquired polyneuropathies.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1987

The incidence of aphasia and global aphasia in left brain-damaged patients.

Two hundred and twenty three right-handed patients consecutively admitted to the wards in a 21-month period for a left-sided cerebrovascular disease were examined 15 to 30 days after the stroke for the presence of aphasia. Twenty-seven of them could not be assessed. Of the remaining 196, 108 (55.1%) were aphasic. The incidence of global aphasia (43%) in the latter group was higher than in previous studies. Based on CT-scan data it was associated in 32% of patients with a deep lesion and only in 53% with an antero-posterior cortical-subcortical lesion, contrary to what is traditionally assumed. There was no sex difference in the incidence and distribution of aphasia.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1987

Evaluation of the antihypertensive effect of TTS clonidine by multiple 24-hour automatic blood pressure monitoring.

Transdermal clonidine (TTSC) has been proposed as a means to improve compliance to treatment of hypertensive patients because of the reported 7-day duration of its antihypertensive effect. However, no detailed information is available on the onset, the time course, and the day and night distribution of this effect throughout the 7 days of the drug skin application. In 12 hospital in-patients with mild or moderate untreated essential hypertension, 24-h blood pressure (BP) was measured at 10-20 min intervals via a noninvasive automatic device (Spacelabs 5300 M) in a no-drug condition, on the 2nd, 4th, and 7th day of the arm application of a 7.0 or 10.5 cm2 patch of TTS clonidine, and on the 2nd and 4th day after substitution of the TTS clonidine patch with an identical patch containing an inert substance (placebo). In nine out of 12 patients, TTS clonidine reduced 24-h systolic and diastolic blood pressure at the 2nd day and even more so on the 4th and 7th day of its application. The reduced blood pressure values observed on the 7th day increased progressively on the 2nd and 4th day after TTS clonidine removal with no rebound over the pre-drug values. The hypotensive effects observed during TTS clonidine were evident throughout the day and night. Thus TTS clonidine exerts a hypotensive effect that starts early and is maintained throughout the 7 days and nights of its application. The discontinuation of this treatment is associated with a smooth return of blood pressure values towards the pre-treatment levels.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed1987

Insulin receptor evaluation in congenital generalized lipodystrophy. Case report of an infant.

Insulin specific receptors on red blood cells and cultured fibroblasts were investigated in a male infant affected of congenital generalized lipodystrophy (CGL). Total insulin binding capacity appeared mildly reduced, with apparently selective involvement of the high-affinity receptors on red blood cells but not on fibroblasts. Such alterations did not produce any impairment of glucose metabolism.

Blood Glucose↗
PubMed1987

The 47,XXY karyotype and unrelated malformative patterns: an unusual association.

47,XXY chromosome complement is relatively frequent (1/750-1000 male newborns) but has so far not been reported in association with malformative syndromes. Three cases of 47,XXY karyotype associated with an unrelated malformative pattern, the Silver-Russell syndrome in two cases and Noonan syndrome in one case are reported. The possibility of a phenotypic alteration of patients with the XXY karyotype by these malformative syndromes is considered.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1987

[Concomitant therapy with cisplatin and radiotherapy in locally advanced tumors of the cervico-facial area].

Nineteen patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer were treated from November 1983 to January 1986 with standard loco-regional Radiotherapy: 2 Gy for 5 days/week up to a total dose of 70 Gy and simultaneous Cisplatinum 20 mg/m2 weekly. All patients achieved a response: 10 (52%) obtained a complete remission (CR) and 9 (48%) a partial remission (PR). Four of 9 patients in PR after chemoradiotherapy were disease-free after radical resection of the residual masses, while another patient was completely cured after second-line chemotherapy. The overall CR was then 79% (15/19). The results were analyzed according to the nodal status and showed that: 92% (11/12) of patients with initial nodal involvement (N1-2) achieved a CR and 75% of them were disease-free after a median follow-up of 23+ months, while only 57% (4/7) of patients with advanced nodal involvement (N3) obtained a CR (p greater than 0.05; NS) and 28% (2/7) of them were alive without evidence of disease (p less than 0.05) after 4+ and 30+ months. Toxicity was moderate: nausea and vomiting (grade 2-3) occurred in about 50% of patients, mucosal toxicity (grade 1-2) in 58%. Myelosuppression was negligible. No patient developed renal failure. Weekly cisplatinum administration during radiotherapy deserves further study especially in the management of patients with advanced primary tumor and minimal lymph node involvement.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Main nitrogen balance determinants in malnourished patients.

Factors influencing nitrogen balance during total parenteral nutrition have been investigated in 38 malnourished patients studied for a cumulative period of 280 days. According to multiple regression analysis, nitrogen intake (0.213 +/- 0.004 g kg-1 day-1, mean +/- SD) proved to be the major determinant of a positive nitrogen balance (0.018 +/- 0.004 g kg-1 day-1), followed by non-protein energy intake (43.3 +/- 0.5 kcal kg-1 day-1). Total calorie intake to predicted basal energy expenditure and non protein calorie to nitrogen ratios appeared to have little significance on nitrogen balance, when corrected for the two former variables.

Female↗
PubMed1986

CT and the diagnosis of myopathies. Preliminary findings in 42 cases.

A total of 42 patients with myopathies underwent CT scans in order to study the relationship between CT images and clinical findings. CT is a valuable diagnostic aid to distinguish primary from neurogenic myopathies, to facilitate directed biopsy and finally to classify the disease according to the degree and extent of the muscular lesion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Autosomal-dominant dystrophy with humeroperoneal weakness and cardiopathy: a genetic variant of Emery-Dreifuss disease?

Two females mother and daughter, were affected by a neuromuscular disorder, characterized by slow progression, humeroperoneal weakness and wasting, limited neck flexion, elbow and ankle joint contractures, cardiopathy and myopathic pattern on EMG. Muscle histology and histochemistry showed type I fiber atrophy and predominance in both. Cardiac abnormalities, in the first case, were suggestive of a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy while in the second hypotension and chronic bradycardia were present. Neurological signs, EMG and morphology seemed to point to a genetic variant of the form of dystrophy named Emery-Dreifuss disease. The mode of transmission and cardiac abnormalities, however, raise the problem of variability even in this well-defined, usually X-linked, disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Vascular ataxic hemiparesis: a prospective clinical and CT study.

Ataxic hemiparesis is a relatively frequent clinical syndrome in which motor and cerebellar deficits on the same side are associated. A prospective study conducted on 27 patients who displayed these vascular symptoms confirms that the areas crucial to the onset of this syndrome are the capsular region (posterior limb-corona radiata) and the upper basis pontis.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Lumbosacral herpes zoster myelitis.

We present a case of herpes zoster (HZ) with some uncommon features, namely lumbar localization and muscle weakness with a distribution different from the site of cutaneous eruptions and sensory deficits. Spread of HZ virus from sensory ganglion to anterior horn cells seems the only possible explanation of these clinical features. Urinary retention and CSF data confirm the hypothesis of HZ myelitis.

Aged↗