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Biomedical subjects

A Piccini

Publications and source records attributed to A Piccini.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Chemo-radiotherapeutic management of advanced head and neck cancer.

Stage III and IV head and neck cancer patients usually achieve poor therapeutic results after radiotherapy. The search for more effective treatment modalities is justified, provided that tolerance is not lower than that of the usual radiation therapy schedules. Chemotherapy has been shown to be effective, and cis-platinum and bleomycin based treatments are reported to result in objective remissions in a substantial proportion of cases. There is also experimental evidence of a radiosensitizing activity of cis-platinum. Thirty-five locally advanced head and neck cancer patients were given combined chemo-radiotherapeutic treatment consisting of a cis-platinum and bleomycin induction followed by a standard radiotherapy course integrated with weekly administrations of cis-platinum. Before radiotherapy, an overall 48.5% objective remission rate was achieved, that rose to 85.8% after completion of the entire treatment, with a 31.5% complete response rate. Incidence and severity of radiation mucositis seem not to be increased, and systemic toxicity is very low, with the adopted drug administration schedule. Overall results do not show any obvious superiority over those of radiotherapy alone.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Vaccinia virus rifampicin-resistance locus specifies a late 63,000 Da gene product.

The genetic locus specifying rifampicin-resistance (RifR) in a vaccinia virus mutant has been localized by marker rescue analysis (J. Tartaglia and E. Paoletti (1985) Virology 147, 394-404). The mutation was defined by DNA sequence analysis as an AT to GC transition occurring 56 bp to the left of the unique XhoI site within HindIII D. The point mutation resulted in an asparagine to aspartic acid substitution 60 amino acids from the predicted C-terminus. Specific DNA probes were used to characterize the RifR designated gene at the transcriptional and translational levels. This region is transcriptionally active only after vaccinia virus DNA synthesis, but not in the presence of cytosine arabinoside suggesting that the RifR function is a late gene product. Translation of hybrid selected RNA to DNA surrounding the mutant marker directed the synthesis of a polypeptide with an apparent mol wt of 63 kDa. Transcriptional and translational mapping studies showed that the mRNA encoding this 63-kDa polypeptide was initiated approximately 460 bp to the right of the HindIII D-A junction and was transcribed in a leftward direction into the HindIII D region.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1985

Recombinant vaccinia virus: immunization against multiple pathogens.

The coding sequences for the hepatitis B virus surface antigen, the herpes simplex virus glycoprotein D, and the influenza virus hemagglutinin were inserted into a single vaccinia virus genome. Rabbits inoculated intravenously or intradermally with this polyvalent vaccinia virus recombinant produced antibodies reactive to all three authentic foreign antigens. In addition, the feasibility of multiple rounds of vaccination with recombinant vaccinia virus was demonstrated.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

[Four years of clinical experience with the cardio-eurhythmic action of verapamil in intravenous administration].

Personal clinical experience using Verapamil intravenously in 200 patients with a number of arrhythmia conditions is reported. The effectiveness of the drug in controlling supraventricular paroxysmal tachycardia and high ventricular frequency atrial fibrillation in particular is pointed out. Good results were also obtained in atrial flutter, in sinus tachycardia, in extrasystole conditions and, at times, in ventricular paroxysmal tachycardia. Clinical experience limits contraindications to atrioventricular block, severe shock, excessive digitalization, and the associated use of beta block substances.

Arrhythmias, Cardiac↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Nasal dimorphism and respiratory dysfunction. Preoperative selection of patients and follow-up using computerized rhinomanometry].

Indications and results of corrective nasal surgery are at times uncertain with the traditional clinical evaluation. To find more certain parameters a study was made with active anterior computerized rhinomanometry (C.R.) pre- and post-operatively in 50 patients randomly chosen from those proposed for rhinoseptoplasty during 1990. The level of total basal resistance (TR) and total residual resistance after pharmacological decongestion were used as objective indicators of respiratory stenosis. Clinically these patients showed some degree of nasal deformity, usually associated with septal deviation. Difficulty in breathing did not always correspond to the level of TR recorded. At times habit or psychological factors related to nasal aesthetics could play an important role. Using CR it was possible to divide the patients into three categories: a) the first (9 patients with normal total basal resistance) required treatment for exclusively aesthetic reasons; b) the second (18 patients with increased basal TR but normal residual TR) required treatment of the conchae and medical therapy; c) the third (23 patients with increased basal and residual TR) had the broadest functional and aesthetic indications. Six months after surgery normal residual TR was found in 96% of these cases. Only 12% of the patients were functionally unsatisfactory, with residual anatomical alteration (4%), phlogosis (4%) or sensations "sine materia" (4%). The present experience confirms the value of CR as an objective test for surgical selection and functional results.

Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Nasal respiratory stenosis and maxillary hypoplasia. Changes after orthodontic treatment with rapid palatal expansion].

The relationship between hypoplasia of the upper maxillary bone and nasal respiratory insufficiency in a group of twenty infants with malocclusion being treated by rapid maxillary expansion (RME) were studied. Prior to treatment all patients presented endognatia with discrepancies of from -4 to -7 mm in the transverse basal skeleton. These were often associated with adenoid hypertrophy (70% of the cases), increased total nasal resistance (70%), oral respiration (80%) and middle ear diseases (30%). RME led to resolution of occlusion alterations in all cases and often also brought about a regression in adenoid hypertrophy (57% of the cases), normalization of the total nasal resistance (70%) and respiration (80%). These effects were achieved alone without association with any other form of medical or surgical E.N.T. treatment. The functional results confirmed by the radiological and clinical findings indicate an increase in the diameters of the nasal fossa and in the distance between the canines, between premolars and between molars as well as reduction in adenoid vegetation and in the diffuse hypertrophic tissues lining the naso-pharyngeal space. Nonetheless, hypoplasia of the upper maxillary bone and nasal respiratory insufficiency remain strictly linked and are bound to a variable, and at times uncertain, cause-effect relationship. Is nasal stenosis the moving force of maxillary-mandibular dysmorphism and gnatological dysfunction or does it result from an overall genetic conditioning of facial skeleton development? During their vast experience in adenoid and metadenoid pathologies in infancy the authors have, at times, observed significant maxillo-facial dysmorphisms. They have likewise found that "facies adenoidea" were not always associated with hypertrophy of the pharyngeal tonsil.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗