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Biomedical subjects

C Contini

Publications and source records attributed to C Contini.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Immunoblot analysis of Salmonella typhi lipopolysaccharide (LPS) using typhoid sera.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Salmonella typhi has been analyzed by immunoblotting with pooled sera from typhoid patients. Pooled typhoid sera have recognized all the antigenic determinants of S. typhi LPS, giving a strong reaction with the repeating units on the O-side chains as well as with the core region. Cross-reacting antigens have been observed with the LPS of S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis, while no heterologous reactions were seen with the LPS of E. coli strains.

Cross Reactions↗
PubMed1987

[Ambulatory electrocardiography in the screening of patients with palpitations].

The role of 24 hour Holter monitoring in the screening of patients complaining of palpitations is reviewed. The term "palpitations", although not always unequivocally used, implies the presence of an arrhythmia. The clinical-instrumental correlation of an intermittent symptom is made possible by continuous electrocardiographic monitoring. Answers to be expected from a 24 hour Holter monitoring in order to achieve an early characterization of the arrhythmia are related to: site of origin, incidence, circadian distribution, prognostic stratification, events aggregation, presence of other asymptomatic abnormalities (rhythm, ST-T).

Arrhythmias, Cardiac↗
PubMed1987

[Technical ambulatory ECG innovations in performance evaluation].

Evaluating the performances of the instrumentation for Ambulatory ECG (AECG) analysis is a need largely recognized by both manufacturers and users. The most generally accepted method is the beat-by-beat comparison with annotated data bases, representing the different ECG abnormalities. Available data bases are aimed at arrhythmias detection evaluation, while it is recognized that the AECG ST-T changes detection has a great relevance in the analysis of ischemic heart disease. A concerted action of the European Community on Ambulatory Monitoring has been approved for achieving a comprehensive reference standard for assessing the quality of AECG instrumentation. The European project has been concentrated on the problem of ST-T analysis. An annotated data base is being developed with the contribution of european experts. A pilot study has been performed for establishing the criteria related to the development and annotation; particularly the definition of significant ST-T changes has been established. The data base will include 2-hour double channel AECG records, which contain at least one ST-T episode. Each record is annotated beat by beat according to the established scheme, identifying arrhythmic beats, rhythm changes, ST-T changes and noisy segments. A coordinating center has been established for interacting with the participating groups and for performing the operations related to the generation and management of the data base. For the time being 14 Groups of 8 Countries are participating to the annotation of the data base. A minimum number of 100 records is planned within June 1988.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1987

[Ambulatory ECG in the peroperative period].

The clinical recognition of perioperative myocardial necrosis represents one of the clue factors in the management of cardiac surgical patients (pts). This study was performed to determine whether there is any relationship between reperfusion ventricular fibrillation and/or ST-segment elevation and postoperative enzymatic release. Serum enzyme levels and ECG were monitored during and after cardiac operations in 23 pts (15 for valvular replacement and 8 for aortocoronary bypass graft). After aortic unclamping only 6 pts showed stable rhythm. Of the 17 pts who developed ventricular fibrillation 10 showed ST-segment elevation (83% of the 12 pts with ST-segment elevation). Although no significant difference was observed, pts with ST-segment elevation showed higher average enzyme (CK, CKMB) levels. Pts who had valvular replacement showed significantly higher serum CK and CKMB levels. Of the 4 pts who showed a second enzymatic peak, one died and another one presented complex ventricular arrhythmias. No correlation was observed between electrocardiographic data and post-operative enzymatic release. New theories concerning oxygen free radical generation during and after cardiopulmonary by-pass, with the related therapeutic perspectives, are discussed.

Cardiac Surgical Procedures↗
PubMed1986

Prognostic value of ventricular arrhythmias and transient ST-T changes after myocardial infarction: a two-year follow-up with ambulatory ECG recording.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the frequency and prognostic significance of ventricular arrhythmias (VA) and of ST-T changes found during 24-h ECG recording in patients who survived an acute myocardial infarction. Eighty-nine patients (2 females and 87 males) discharged from hospital after acute myocardial infarction were studied. Mean age was 52.2 years (SD +/- 10) with a range of 26-68. Serial observations were carried out at 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 months after the acute event. Eight patients died during the first two years of follow-up, of these, 2 deaths were of noncardiac origin: one was due to gastric carcinoma and the other to pulmonary neoplasm. Of the 6 cardiac deaths, 4 were sudden and unexpected and 2 were due to reinfarction. Statistical analysis of the results obtained in the first three months of follow-up has not shown any significant correlation between pathologic patterns and cardiac death. In the second period we found a statistically significant relationship between cardiac death and multiform VPBs (p less than 0.05), CVA (p less than 0.05), and ST-T changes (p less than 0.05). More significant was the correlation between cardiac death and the presence at the same time of ST-T changes and multiform VPBs (p less than 0.01).

Adult↗
PubMed1986

[Research on staphylococcal enterotoxin B by dot immunobinding assay (DIB). Preliminary observations].

A recently developed immunoenzymatic technique, the Dot Immunobinding assay (DIB), has been applied to the rapid detection of staphylococcal enterotoxin B in filtered culture supernatants. The test has been shown to be highly sensitive and specific, easy to perform and rapid (only 4 hours). The use of nitrocellulose paper as the solid phase allows the exact standardization of the amount of antigen employed and it avoids the overnight incubation usually necessary with the conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Enterotoxins↗
PubMed1986

Leishmaniasis in Sardinia. I. Observations on a larval breeding site of Phlebotomus perniciosus, Phlebotomus perfiliewi perfiliewi and Sergentomyia minuta (Diptera: Psychodidae) in the canine leishmaniasis focus of Soleminis (Cagliari).

During the summer-autumn period of 1983 and 1984, 1408 specimens of Phlebotomus perniciosus, 74 of P. perfiliewi perfiliewi and 35 of Sergentomyia minuta were caught in emergence traps in a locality close to the village of Soleminis, a canine leishmaniasis focus 15 km from Cagliari, Sardinia. All the flies were collected from a breeding site inside an abandoned cement building. Male flies were highly predominant for all three species. A few larvae of P. perniciosus were also collected from the same site. This is the first finding of an abundant larval breeding site of P. perniciosus.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Noninvasive evaluation of cardiac dysrhythmias, and their relationship with multisystemic symptoms, in progressive systemic sclerosis patients.

Fifty-three patients (34 who had diffuse scleroderma, and 19 who had CREST syndrome [calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly, and telangiectasias]) were studied by noninvasive procedures, including resting electrocardiogram (ECG), continuous 24-hour Holter ECG monitoring, M-mode echocardiography, and 2-dimensional echocardiography. Only 22 patients (42%) had abnormalities such as conduction defects, supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmias, or ST-T changes detected on resting ECG. In contrast, using Holter monitoring, the number of conduction abnormalities seen increased from 10 to 16 patients and transient ST-T changes increased from 2 to 18 patients. Forty-eight patients had ventricular arrhythmias, with multiform ventricular premature beats in 21 (40%), pairs of runs of ventricular tachycardia in 15 patients (28%), and 1 or more runs of ventricular tachycardia in 7 (13%). Echocardiography detected asymmetric septal hypertrophy in 10 patients, impaired ventricular function in 9 patients, congestive cardiomyopathy in 2, mitral prolapse in 4, and pericardial effusion in 3 patients. Multiform and/or repetitive ventricular premature beats occurred more frequently in patients with echocardiographic abnormalities, but were also present in patients who had normal findings on echocardiographic examination. Cardiac involvement was not correlated with clinical variants of scleroderma (CREST syndrome or diffuse scleroderma), nor with other signs and symptoms of the disease. Thus, cardiac involvement is found much more frequently than would be expected from clinical symptoms or from results of resting ECG alone; therefore, Holter monitoring and echocardiography should be included in the routine workup of patients who have scleroderma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

The intraarterial blood pressure monitoring in the evaluation of patients with dizziness and/or fainting.

Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring has been extensively utilized, so far, for studying BP profile and hypotensive treatment in arterial hypertension. In this paper, preliminary data will be reported from a clinical study on the possible contribution of the combined ECG and BP monitoring in clarifying mechanisms of dizziness in patients with multiple or complex cardiovascular problems. Results are shown of three patients with ischaemia, arrhythmias and/or episodes of hypotension, and of three patients with borderline hypertension and marked fluctuations of BP.

Arrhythmias, Cardiac↗
PubMed1985

Use of dot immunobinding assay for the rapid diagnosis of human hydatidosis.

A Dot Immunobinding (DIB) assay has been applied to the serodiagnosis of human hydatidosis and its results have been compared with those obtained with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The two techniques have been shown to be closely related (p greater than 0.001), highly sensitive (92.0% of positive results in 75 sera from patients with hepatic or pulmonary hydatidosis) and specific (93.5% of negative results in 31 sera from patients affected by other parasitic diseases and 100% of negative results in 30 normal controls). DIB however is more economical and takes less time (only 4 hours) than ELISA. DIB could be an useful tool in field epidemiological surveys since it is sensitive, specific, simple to perform and it does not require any expensive apparatus.

Echinococcosis, Hepatic↗
PubMed1984

Clinical experience with a new dynamic display system for ambulatory ECG recordings.

The authors present the results of clinical experience with a new display for ECG signal presentation in ambulatory ECG monitoring. The new method has been devised by adding to contourography the dynamic effect produced by image movement and the perspective effect produced by pseudo-tridimensional presentation. The system has been developed using a microprocessor, a dynamic memory and an arithmetic unit which sends the signal on a CRT screen. Clinical experience, based upon 150 analyses, demonstrates the new method's marked efficiency in presenting rhythm disturbances and particularly ST-T segment alterations. Clinical validation has been performed comparing the results of 50 tapes analysed both with the new method and with different commercial systems. The new method provides useful information as to ST-T segment in 98% of cases and as to rhythm disturbances in 90%, while commercial systems reveal ST-T alterations in 84% and arrhythmias in 70% This method, being devoid of automaticity, does not yield false positives; dynamic and pseudo-tridimensional visualization of ECG signal allow the operator to perceive with high sensitivity alterations of the observed tracing.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed1984

[Radial counter-immunoelectrophoresis in the determination of specific anti-hydatidosis antibodies. Preliminary observations].

Radial counter-immunoelectrophoresis was evaluated with sera from surgically-confirmed hydatidosis cases, patients with other parasitic diseases and healthy controls. Radial counter-immunoelectrophoresis was a sensitive as classic counter-immunoelectrophoresis based on the same positivity criterion and was equally specific for the immunodiagnosis of human hydatidosis. The procedure appears to be simple and rapid (the immunoprecipitation step requires just 5 minutes) and merits consideration.

Antibodies↗