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Biomedical subjects

A Giampalmo

Publications and source records attributed to A Giampalmo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

[The endemic goitre in figurative arts].

For the past fifteen years the author has been collecting photografic documentation of works of figurative arts (graffiti, mosiac, engravings, paintings and sculptures) made at different times and places, in which he found mostly unintentional display of diseases or deformities that would be clearly identified in nosography in the light of today's knowledge. In this study the author intends to illustrate briefly different cases on endemic goitre - whose representation is particularly frequent in figurative arts - in chronological order, beginning with the most ancient ones and focussing on Italian portraying of the Nativity and the Passion of Christ, where the most striking infirmities and disabilities were mirrored and commonly accepted. This study whose interest lies between a scientific and a humanistic one has also importance in the field of art, and especially in relevant philological research which is of particular importance to us pathologists. At last it contribute to establish the epidemiology of some diseases and the knowledge of historical and geographical pathology.

Goiter, Endemic↗
PubMed1994

[Traces and evidence of pathology in the figurative arts].

This study is interested in figurative works of the past in which the artist had seemingly no purpose to illustrate pathological manifestations and their display was merely casual. It deals with both scientific and humanistic aspects and is of relevance to pathologists, in that it provides further insights into the epidemiology of some disease. Also, it contributes to an ever increasing progress of knowledge of historical and geographical pathology. The author has been carrying out this study without following a definite pattern, guided only by chance and curiosity, and discovering that artists could sometimes portray to perfection malformations and morbid conditions which would later be identified and classified in medicine, thus anticipating and even emphasizing the expressiveness of descriptions in scientific works. In his study, referring to paleopathology (therefore, not necessarily only very ancient), the author intends to illustrate briefly different cases found and to dwell in particular on two conditions, dwarfishness and endemic goitre, whose representation is particularly frequent in figurative arts. Representations of dwarfishness, in several of their genotypic and phenotypic variations, exist particularly in ancient Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, Roman and, in the American continent, pre-columbian art; and then, again in Europe, mostly in 15th and 16th century art, but also in the following centuries, in which statues of dwarfs and malformed people were placed even in public and private gardens as ornaments. There are mainly representations of primary digenetic dwarfishness (total or partial chondrodysplasia, Lobstein type osteopsathyrosis, Hurler and Morquio diseases and other thesaurismoses), but also secondary (dysendocrinous-hipopituitaric and hypothyroid-, and due to different types of rickets and to vertebral tuberculosis of Pott). Representations of dwarfs of different types are shown and commented, from the most ancient, through the masterpiece portraits of Spanish 17th century, up to modern times. As to the goitre, a set of its most significant portrayals in figurative arts is presented in chronological order beginning with the most ancient ones and focussing on Italian representations of the Nativity and the Passion of Christ, where the most striking infirmities and disabilities were mirrored and commonly accepted. As far as pathology is concerned, it is pointed out how, for a long time in the past, the goitre appears frequent and widespread. This condition reached such an extent that it could almost represent another type of people, playing at times the main characters not only, as said, in Christian iconography, which for many centuries was almost the only one to exist, but also in every day life.

Disease↗
PubMed1991

[Pathophysiognomy of organs. A concept in pathology].

The term of pathophysiognomy is to describe the conditioning exercised by the structure, position, and function of an organ on the characteristic configuration of a pathological process and, as the case may be, even upon the possibility of its development.

Humans↗
PubMed1990

An atypical paediatric case of malignant atrophic papulosis (Köhlmeier-Degos disease).

A new case of malignant atrophic papulosis (Köhlmeier-Degos disease) is reported. Vascular symptoms began at 17 months of age with cerebral ischaemia and progressive involvement of fingers and toes with torpid ulcers and apical necrotic amputations. At 6 years of age he developed chronic intestinal ischaemia with malabsorption and a new cerebral attack; in spite of anti-aggregant therapy the disease progressed and he died 7 months after diagnosis from a third cerebral ictus. Since the typical skin lesions of the disease were absent, the diagnosis was made on the basis of a pathological pattern of an occluded biopsied artery. The elder brother presents clinical and instrumental vascular involvement without cutaneous lesions and could be slightly affected.

Arterial Occlusive Diseases↗
PubMed1989

Immunohistochemical investigations of the human palatine tonsil from surgical specimens using polyclonal and monoclonal antikeratin antibodies.

The keratinization process of tonsillary epithelium in patients with different age, who underwent surgery because of chronic inflammatory processes, has been studied by employing low (40 KD), medium (52-56-58 KD), high (56-64 and 68 KD) as well as broad spectrum antikeratin antibodies. The findings thus obtained outline the various keratin patterns of the tonsil in the outer covering and, even more, in the crypt labyrinth wall. These findings have been compared with those obtained by histochemical reactions for acid phosphatase and non-specific esterase activities (Favrz et al. 1986 II). In crypt epithelium keratinization, 56-64 KD keratins are involved in cells where also high enzymic activities are taking place, namely 1. in those elements delimiting the lumen as well as in those belonging to the reticulum mesh which are nearest to it and host lymphoid elements active in immunity reactions; 2. in elements at the bottom of small and large crypts, where excavation continues into the lymphoid tissue and interfollicular spaces. 68 KD keratin, although present in lower amounts, is synthesized almost everywhere, but only irregularly. It marks surface epithelium surrounding some dermal papillae, some meshes of the crypt reticulum, the "gallery" bottom as well as elements of interfollicular proliferation developing in the lymphoid tissue like arborescence. The path of congested blood vessels in the crypt wall towards the surface is marked by keratinized epitheliocytes. 56-64 KD keratin is present in the most superficial elements and is generally accompanied by the wall growing thinner, its blistering and breaking. The most frequent pathologic alterations of the epithelium (like cellular hypertrophy) involve variations in cytoplasm keratin pattern, in still un-flattened polyhedral elements of the intermediate layers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

The relationship between obesity and degree of arteriosclerosis. New autopsy findings.

The degree of arteriosclerotic changes in the aorta and major vessels was inversely related to obesity (P less than 0.05) in an unselected series of 300 autopsies on subjects older than 50 years who had no hypertensive diseases. In addition, out of 11 subjects with very severe obesity, 9 showed no arteriosclerosis, and only 2 showed mild arteriosclerosis.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Histopathology of pseudomembranous colitis.

Pseudomembranous colitis, an uncommon affection following surgery or antibiotic therapy, is characterized by whitish plaques ( pseudomembranes ) attached to the mucosa. Serial sectioning of these pseudomembranes disclosed that each of them was related to a lymphoid aggregate in the submucosa and the lamina propria. A group of glandular crypts overlying the aggregate were dilated by mucus, fibrin, leukocytes, and cellular debris. These contents jutted out of the mucosal surface into the lumen, constituting the stem of the pseudomembrane, and could spread over the surrounding mucosa. Accordingly, a morphologic unit was recognized in pseudomembranous colitis, including the lymphoid aggregate, the dilated glandular crypts, and the pseudomembrane stem.

Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous↗
PubMed1983

Enzymatic activation of lymphoid population following inflammatory reactions in the human appendix.

We have histochemically evaluated the LAP, AP and ANE activities of the human appendix in 100 surgical specimens. The mucosa has been particularly investigated for its different aspects during inflammatory conditions. Two main facts have been ascertained: the subepithelial location of macrophages, and the AP and ANE activities of two groups of cells in the germinal centers. Subepithelial macrophages show conspicuous AP activity that correlates with the degree of inflammatory response and of exposure to luminal antigens. In the germinal centers, AP and ANE activities disclose two further groups of positive cells, probably the same cells reacting to both technics. One group is rooted to the core of the germinal center; the other to the intermediate area between the germinal center and the follicular mantle.

Acid Phosphatase↗
PubMed1983

Myxoid degeneration with prolapse and dystrophic calcification of the annulus fibrosus of the mitral valve. Pathological and clinical survey.

Two degenerations of the mitral valve apparatus, namely myxoid degeneration of the mitral cusps and necrosis with subsequent calcification of the annulus fibrosus, are extensively reviewed and discussed. Both lesions are mainly noticed in elderly patients, with the possible exception of systemic dystrophies of the connective tissue associated with metabolic disorders. The clinicopathological correlations of several cases are reported, with special emphasis on modern diagnostic procedures and their wide anatomic spectrum.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

[Findings on the pathology of mesotheliomas and their morphological diagnosis].

The data arising out of an extensive series of necropsies and operations on cases of mesothelioma observed between 1960 and 1974 in Genoa, a town where the incidence of this type of cancer is high, are reported. Macro- and microscopic and traditional histochemical diagnostic criteria are discussed and judgest to be largely insecure for a diagnosis of mesothelioma. In doubtful cases only the use of the electronic microscope is considered valid for diagnostic purposes. Particular attention is paid to the finding of endocytoplasmatic microfilaments of actomyosin type in mesotheliomatous cells and of microvill on free surfaces and at cell interfaces. For comparative purposes, ultrastructural findings in tumours which often involve pleural metastasis and are able to simulate a mesothelioma, are reported.

Adenocarcinoma↗