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C Fava

Publications and source records attributed to C Fava.

62 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

[Treatment of acute arterial embolism of the kidney].

The possible ways of treating renal artery embolisms are reviewed with an examination of their advantages and defects. Surgical treatment has a fairly high mortality rate but quickly cures any type of vascular occlusion and will cure any concomitant problems such as arterial stenosis. Medical treatment with anticoagulant or thrombolytic drugs offers a lower short term mortality rate and is effective even on narrow blood vessels but the response varies according to the type of thromboembolic damage and the way the drugs are administered. Recently developed forms of radiological treatment are also examined. A personal technique successfully applied to an embolism in a patient with only one functioning kidney is described. It consists of a two-step mechanical and pharmacological attack. First the occluded artery was opened by means of a balloon catheter that was pushed beyond the embolism and withdrawn into the aorta after inflation of the balloon. Thrombolytic drugs (Urokinase) were then infused through the catheter into the bed of the renal artery in order to cure the secondary thrombosis found, as is generally the case, downstream of the embolism. The technique appears ideal for the treatment of patients with embolisms and total involvement of the renal parenchyma, especially when their general condition makes surgery inadvisable.

Catheterization

Detection of group B streptococci by agglutination testing from selective broth cultures.

A rapid technique for the immunological identification of group B streptococci in vaginal swabs is reported. Vaginal swabs obtained from 567 pregnant women at term or during labor were incubated for eight hrs in Todd Hewitt broth containing 15 micrograms per ml nalidixic acid, one microgram per ml polymixin, and 0.1 microgram per ml crystal violet (NPC broth). After streaking the swabs on blood agar plates, both plain broth cultures and their nitrous acid extracted pellets were tested with a commercial latex agglutination reagent. Beta-hemolytic colonies grown on the blood agar plates after overnight incubation were grouped with commercial latex agglutination and coagglutination reagents for reference identification. Sensitivities for the broth culture and nitrous acid techniques were 86.8 percent and 94.7 percent, respectively; specificities were 97.4 percent and 98.7 percent respectively. Nitrous acid extraction of vaginal broth cultures followed by latex agglutination testing can significantly shorten the time needed to detect group B streptococci, resulting in the intrapartum detection of these organisms.

Bacteriological Techniques

[A cytofluorimetric analysis of the DNA content and S phase in intraepithelial neoplasia of the cervix uteri].

The natural history of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) evidenced in such pathologies a different biological behaviour due to the presence of similar morphological atypia with different potential development. To biologically characterize CIN lesions we valued by flow cytometry, the DNA content and the proliferative activity of 53 biopsies obtained by colposcopy. Aneuploid histograms were present in none of the histologically negative lesions, in 14% of the CIN I, in none CIN II, and in 40% of the CIN III. The mean value of S-phase was 2.7% in non dysplastic lesions, 5% in the CIN I, 2.5% in the CIN II and 6.1% in the CIN III. In this study the findings of aneuploid cells and the value of proliferative activities seems to be not correlated with the histological features. The clinical and instrumental follow up of the considered patients could establish the eventual prognostic significance of cytofluorimetric parameters in CIN lesions.

Biopsy

[The usefulness of computer tomography in planning cochlear implant surgery].

In recent years, technical progress has created new complex acoustic implants which send an electrical stimulus to the eighth cranial nerve through one or more electrodes inserted through the round window into the scala tympani of the cochlea. The abnormal--mostly osteosclerotic--processes which cause deep hearing loss may prevent electrode insertion. Therefore, internal ear anatomy must be detailed, which is essential to assess the feasibility of surgery and, if surgery is indicated, to plan it properly. High resolution CT (HRCT) was performed on 79 patients to study cochlear patency, round window shape and patency, degree of temporal bone pneumatization and the proximity of vascular structures (carotid artery and jugular vein). On the basis of HRCT results, 14 of 79 patients were excluded from surgery. Comparing HRCT with surgical findings, the authors conclude that HRCT is the method of choice to examine the candidates to cochlear implant thanks to its high spatial resolution and excellent depiction of even the smallest structures. Its only limitation is that it fails to assess the lack of patency of the cochlear canal due to fibrosis, which is not associated with demonstrable density changes (3 of 19 surgical patients). This problem may be solved by submitting the potential surgical candidates to MRI.

Adult