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A Passannante

Publications and source records attributed to A Passannante.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Midazolam amnesia and conceptual processing in implicit memory.

Prominent theories of implicit memory (D. Schacter, B. Church, & J. Treadwell, 1994) emphasize the dominant role of perceptual processing in mediating priming on perceptual implicit memory tests. Examinations of the effects of conceptual processing on perceptual implicit memory tests have produced ambiguous results. Although a number of investigations (e.g., J. Toth & R. Hunt, 1990) have demonstrated that variations in conceptual processing affect priming on perceptual implicit memory tests, these effects may arise because of the contaminating effects of explicit memory. The current experiment examined this controversy using midazolam, a benzodiazepine that produces a dense, albeit temporary, anterograde amnesia when injected prior to study. The experiment examined whether the effects of generation found on the implicit memory test of perceptual identification were affected by a midazolam injection prior to study. Results demonstrated that midazolam substantially diminished generation effects in free and cued recall, as well as overall performance on these tests, but had no detectable effect on the generation effect in perceptual identification.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

The effect of midazolam on implicit memory tests.

Substantial empirical evidence exists suggesting that there are distinct forms of explicit and implicit memory. However, methodological problems have hampered attempts to identify the nature of the information processing underlying these forms of memory. These problems include the contamination of performance on implicit memory tests by explicit memory processes, as well as a host of difficulties inherent in correlational approaches that involve amnesiac subjects. In this paper we attempt to explore whether midazolam, a benzodiazepine used in surgical anesthesia, might be useful for studying implicit memory. Specifically, we attempt to determine whether midazolam produces selective effects on explicit, as opposed to implicit, memory. We focus on midazolam because of prior studies demonstrating that benzodiazepines do not affect implicit memory and because its rapid pharmacokinetics ensure that sedative effects are minimized when testing occurs at relatively short retention intervals. The results of an experiment using free recall, fragment completion and perceptual identification tests suggest that midazolam diminishes memory in implicit and explicit memory tests, although the diminution is proportionally larger in explicit memory. These results constrain the inferences that may be drawn when midazolam is used to explore implicit memory.

Anti-Anxiety Agents↗
PubMed1999

Review of sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy (Rosai-Dorfman disease) of head and neck.

The entity known as sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy (SHML), or Rosai-Dorfman disease (RD disease), is an uncommon benign proliferation of hematopoietic and fibrous tissue that often presents in the head and neck region. Its initial manifestations most often include a roughly symmetric, painless, bilateral cervical adenopathy, although extranodal disease may develop in a minority of patients. The key histologic feature of SHML is the presence of various numbers of large, pale histiocytic cells that contain within their cellular borders apparently engulfed lymphocytes ("emperipolesis"); these distinctive large, pale cells - RD cells - are S-100 protein-positive by immunostaining and so differ from ordinary histiocytes. Despite its sometimes impressive clinical presentation, SHML is a benign and self-limited disease, whose treatment is aimed largely at controlling its local manifestations (most often by surgical therapy). The microscopic differential diagnosis, particularly in extranodal disease, is at times challenging and can include Langerhans' cell histiocytosis, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, metastatic carcinoma, and metastatic malignant melanoma.

Antigens, CD1↗
PubMed1998

[The pathology spectrum of AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma].

Patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are at increased risk of developing non Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL). Current estimates indicate that 5-10% of HIV-infected individuals develop AIDS-related NHL (AIDS-NHL). AIDS-NHL share several clinical features, including frequent extranodal presentation, aggressive clinical course and poor outcome. However, AIDS-NHL are a heterogeneous group of malignancies. They traditionally included systemic and primary brain lymphomas, but nowadays their updated clinicopathologic spectrum also comprises two novel entities, namely primary effusion lymphoma and plasmablastic lymphoma of the oral cavity. In the last few years, several studies have shown that the pathologic heterogeneity of AIDS-NHL correlates with the heterogeneity of the molecular lesions associated with these lymphomas. However, despite their pathologic and molecular heterogeneity, AIDS-NHL have a common B-cell origin, although the precise stage of B-cell differentiation reflected by the different tumor types has not been clarified yet.

Humans↗
PubMed1988

The heparin flush syndrome: a cause of iatrogenic hemorrhage.

The anticoagulant drug heparin is used extensively in modern hospital practice. The major therapeutic use of this drug remains treatment and prevention of systemic thrombosis. However, an increasing amount of heparin is being used in nontherapeutic protocols to implement newer, more invasive technology when the body's protective clotting mechanism would otherwise interfere. Buried in protocols, heparin has become ubiquitous in standard hospital practice. One such protocol is the use of heparinized solutions to "flush" arterial and venous catheters in order to maintain patency and thus, vascular access. Often these flush solutions are considered to be as innocuous as "simple saline." We report a patient who experienced post-operative bleeding resulting from overuse of "heparin flushes," and necessitating a second surgery. The excessive hemorrhage following this inadvertent anticoagulation has been named the "heparin flush syndrome," to call attention to the serious and sometimes fatal side-effects of heparinized solutions.

Aged↗