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C Del Vecchio-Blanco

Publications and source records attributed to C Del Vecchio-Blanco.

48 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

The role of IgM anti-HBc in the etiologic diagnosis of HBsAg-positive acute and chronic hepatitis.

HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, IgM anti-HAV, total and IgM anti-delta (RIA) and IgM anti-HBc (ELISA) have been determined on sera of 72 male patients with acute hepatitis (68 HBsAg positive and 4 anti-HBc-positive) at the onset of the disease and at 2, 4 and 6 months thereafter, and of 77 patients with HBsAg-positive chronic active hepatitis. The results indicate that testing for IgM anti-HBc in acute hepatitis is necessary to identify cases of hepatitis B even in the absence of positivity for HBsAg and/or HBeAg. HBsAg-positive cases, negative for IgM anti-HBc, were due to delta superinfection of chronic carriers of HBsAg. Recovery was always associated with negativity of IgM anti-HBc; IgM anti-HBc persistence was not found in all cases evolved to chronicity. In chronic hepatitis cases positivity for IgM anti-HBc was found only in 39% of the anti-delta-negative and only in 5.5% of the anti-delta-positive cases.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

T and B lymphocytes in patients with chronic active liver disease and in healthy HBsAg carriers.

E-rosette and surface Ig tests were used to study circulating T and B lymphocytes in 65 patients with chronic active liver disease (CALD), 15 healthy HBsAg carriers and 30 healthy controls. No significant variation in B lymphocytes was observed in CALD and in healthy HBsAg carriers. On the other hand, the absolute number and the percentage of T lymphocytes were significantly decreased in CALD, especially in cases negative for HBV infection markers.

B-Lymphocytes↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Phenotypic characterization of mononuclear cell infiltrate in chronic active hepatitis (CAH) of different etiology.

The morphologic characterization of portal and lobular infiltrates of chronic active hepatitis (CAH) was performed on liver biopsy sections from 18 patients: 6 HBsAg-positive/anti-delta-negative with tissue signs of hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication, 6 HBsAg-positive/anti-delta-positive with tissue signs of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) replication, and 6 HBsAg-negative without clinical or serologic evidence of autoimmune disease. No statistically significant differences were found among all the three groups of patients studied. Results from the 6 HBsAg-negative cases with T4/T8 ratio greater than 1 confirm the differences reported between this type and autoimmune forms of CAH. The lack of statistically significant differences among patients with CAH of different etiology suggests that etiologic factors play a minor role in determining the characteristics of the inflammatory liver infiltrates.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy of portal vein thrombosis in liver cirrhosis: results in 15 patients.

Between 1988 and 1992 ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsies of thromboses in the main branches of the portal vein were carried out in 15 patients with liver cirrhosis. The aims of the study were to evaluate the usefulness, feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of this procedure in cirrhotics with known or suspected hepatocellular carcinoma. The procedure was carried out only in patients with a platelet count > or = 40,000/microL and prothrombin activity > or = 40%. A single pass, with a 22 gauge spinal needle, was performed in the portal vein lumen. Diagnosis of the aetiology of the portal vein thrombosis was obtained in all 15 cases. In 12 cases, a cytological diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma was made. In one case, the neoplastic cells aspirated were compatible with adenocarcinoma, and a subsequent colonoscopy confirmed the presence of colonic cancer. The material aspirated was compatible with chemically-induced thrombosis in one patient who had undergone several percutaneous ethanol injection sessions for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, and in the last case only blood was aspirated, thus ruling out the coexistence of hepatic cancer. We conclude that fine needle aspiration biopsy of portal vein thrombosis is a feasible, low risk procedure that facilitates the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma when fine needle biopsy of focal liver lesions fails. Fine needle aspiration biopsy of portal vein thrombosis is also useful in excluding neoplastic aetiology of portal vein thrombosis.

Adenocarcinoma↗