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Biomedical subjects

A Fusi

Publications and source records attributed to A Fusi.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Multicenter phase III randomized trial of polychemotherapy (CVD regimen) versus the same chemotherapy (CT) plus subcutaneous interleukin-2 and interferon-alpha2b in metastatic melanoma.

BACKGROUND: The addition of cytokines to chemotherapy (CT) has obtained encouraging but contradictory results in metastatic melanoma. In this phase III trial, we compared the effects of CT [cisplatin, vindesine and dacarbazine (CVD)] with those of concurrent biochemotherapy (bioCT) consisting of CVD plus interleukin-2 and interferon-alpha2b. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 151 untreated metastatic melanoma patients were randomized, 75 on arm A (cisplatin 30 mg/m2 on days 1-3, vindesine 2.5 mg/m2 on day 1 and dacarbazine 250 mg/m2 on days 1-3), and 76 on arm B (same CVD scheme plus interferon-alpha2b on days 1-5 and interleukin-2 on days 1-5 and 8-15, both administered subcutaneously), either recycled every 3 weeks. Response was assessed every two cycles. RESULTS: Ten percent of the patients were alive at a median of 52 months from start of therapy. We observed a response rate (RR) of 21% on arm A versus 33% on arm B; three patients (4%) given bioCT had complete responses (CRs). Median time to progression (TTP) was identical; median overall survival (OS) time was 12 months on arm A and 11 months on arm B. CONCLUSIONS: BioCT is not better than CT alone; the trend in favor of the bioCT in terms of RR did not translate into better TTP or OS. Therefore, bioCT cannot be recommended as standard first-line therapy for metastatic melanoma.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

New-onset delusions and hallucinations in patients infected with HIV.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between HIV-associated psychotic symptoms (i.e., delusions, hallucinations) and demographic, psychopathological and medical variables by comparing patients with and without cerebral opportunistic infections or metabolic encephalopathy. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PATIENTS: 26 patients admitted to hospital with HIV and new-onset psychotic symptoms, defined according to DSM-III-R criteria. OUTCOME MEASURES: A semistructured psychiatric interview using the Psychopathology Assessment Scale (AMDP-4) of the Association for Methodology and Documentation in Psychiatry system. Comprehensive medical assessments, including laboratory tests and computed tomographic scans, were also performed. RESULTS: Patients with cerebral opportunistic infections or metabolic encephalopathy (i.e., "secondary" psychosis, n = 13) were more likely to show disorders of consciousness, disorders of orientation and disturbances of attention and memory than those with no evidence of HIV-related cerebral disease (i.e., "primary" psychosis, n = 13); 10 patients (77%) with cerebral opportunistic infections or metabolic encephalopathy and only 1 (8%) patient without (p < 0.001) were diagnosed with delirium. These associations were stronger for the "secondary" patients with no focal brain lesions than for those with lesions. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that "organic" symptoms of psychosis in those infected with HIV are related to the systemic and cerebral complications of HIV infection rather than to the psychotic process itself.

AIDS Dementia Complex↗
PubMed1991

[Automatic voice recognition for radiologic reports. Experiment with a prototype in an operational environment].

Large vocabulary speech recognition, its techniques and its software and hardware technology, are being developed, aimed at providing the office user with a tool that could significantly improve both quantity and quality of his work: the dictation machine, which allows memos and documents to be input using voice and a microphone instead of fingers and a keyboard. The IBM Rome Science Center, together with the IBM Research Division, has built a prototype recognizer that accepts sentences in natural language from a 20,000-word Italian vocabulary. The unit runs on a personal computer equipped with a special hardware capable of giving all the necessary computing power. The first laboratory experiments yielded very interesting results and pointed out such system characteristics to make its use possible in operational environments. To this purpose, the dictation of medical reports was considered as a suitable application. In cooperation with the 2nd Radiology Department of S. Maria della Misericordia Hospital (Udine, Italy), a system was experimented by radiology department doctors during their everyday work. The doctors were able to directly dictate their reports to the unit. The text appeared immediately on the screen, and eventual errors could be corrected either by voice or by using the keyboard. At the end of report dictation, the doctors could both print and archive the text. The report could also be forwarded to hospital information system, when the latter was available. Our results have been very encouraging: the system proved to be robust, simple to use, and accurate (over 95% average recognition rate). The experiment was precious for suggestions and comments, and its results are useful for system evolution towards improved system management and efficiency.

Medical Records Systems, Computerized↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Three cases of delirium after "ecstasy" ingestion.

Three cases of delirium experienced by three young friends after recreational use of "ecstasy" are reported--a syndrome which, to the best of the authors' knowledge, has not been previously observed in MDMA abusers. Special attention is given to the etiological factors and clinical features of the adverse reaction.

Adult↗