PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C Vecchio

Publications and source records attributed to C Vecchio.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

[Efficacy and tolerability of felodipine and nifedipine in stable angina refractory to beta-blocker therapy].

BACKGROUND: Medical therapy of stable angina contemplates beta-blockers as a first line. The combination of dihydropyridines with beta-blocking drugs enhances the effectiveness of both single therapies. Nifedipine, in the usual formulation (AR), is burdened by an unsatisfactory tolerability, and this is the main reason to study new dihydropyridines. AIM: To compare efficacy and tolerability of felodipine ER 10 mg o.d. with that of nifedipine AR 20 mg b.d. in patients with stable angina pectoris refractory to beta-blocker therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Of 15 initial patients, 14 were entirely evaluable for the study, the design of which was double blind, double dummy, random cross over and placebo controlled. All patients showed reproducible threshold of ischemia at exercise testing. In constancy of beta-blocker therapy, they were given placebos for 2 weeks, then one of the active drugs with a placebo of the other one for 4 weeks, followed by the cross-over period of 4 weeks. Efficacy and tolerability of treatments were evaluated by clinical observation and rest and exercise radionuclide angiography. At the end of each individual study, it was decided blindly if and which of the 2 drugs seemed preferable, considering symptoms, undesired collateral effects and the results of exercise procedures. RESULTS: The efficacy on angina of the 2 active treatments was not different. More patients suffered undesired side effects on nifedipine than on felodipine. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at rest was 65.3 +/- 4.3% (s.e.) on placebo, 64.6 +/- 2.6% on felodipine and 67.5 +/- 2.5% on nifedipine (p n.s.). A significant reduction in resting LV function (that is, a decrease of LVEF > or = 5%) was observed in 2 patients on felodipine and 3 on nifedipine, but in both groups other 3 patients showed improvement in LVEF. During exercise, LVEF decreased 6.1 +/- 2.0% on placebo and 3.3 +/- 3.2% on nifedipine, while it increased 1.0 +/- 2.6% on felodipine (p < 0.01 vs. placebo). At the end of the study, felodipine was blindly judged superior to nifedipine in 10 patients, nifedipine was superior in 1 case, in the other 3 there was no clear difference (p < 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: In 14 patients with stable angina refractory to beta-blockers, the addition of felodipine or nifedipine has similar antiischemic effects. However, felodipine showed better results in LVEF response to exercise and less side effects, and this leaded to a more frequent blind choice of felodipine versus nifedipine to add to beta-blocker therapy.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗
PubMed1995

Pre-operative localization of non-palpable lesions in breast cancer by charcoal suspension.

The use of preoperative localization procedures for non-palpable breast lesions (NPBL) is becoming more and more widespread, increasing the detection of early breast cancers. From October 1987 to July 1992, at our Institution, 253 patients (pts) with clinically non-palpable lesions underwent surgical treatment. Of the 253 pts, the lesions have been localized in 95 cases by a needle system, and in the other 158 cases by a dye injection of a 3% sterile charcoal suspension using stereotactic method (118 cases) or sonography (40 cases). The patients' mean age was 53 years (range 30-75). Mammography revealed regular opacities in 133 cases, clustered microcalcification in 75, diffuse microcalcification in 24, opacities with irregular borders in nine and opacities with internal microcalcifications in 12. The histological findings showed benign breast disease in 175 cases (69.2%), borderline breast disease in 23 (9.1%) and malignancy in 55 (21.7%). The benign/malignant/borderline lesions ratio was 3.2:1. The majority (70%) of these malignant lesions were small cancers (less than 1 cm in diameter) and without lymph-node involvement. The biopsy cost (benign/malignant/borderline ratio, patients discomfort and cosmetic result) has been acceptable.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Morphology of the "athlete's heart" assessed by echocardiography in 947 elite athletes representing 27 sports.

In the present study, we used echocardiography to investigate the morphologic adaptations of the heart to athletic training in 947 elite athletes representing 27 sports who achieved national or international levels of competition. Cardiac morphology was compared for these sports, using multivariate statistical models. Left ventricular (LV) diastolic cavity dimension above normal (> 54 mm, ranging up to 66 mm) was identified in 362 (38%) of the 947 athletes. LV wall thickness above normal (> 12 mm, ranging up to 16 mm) was identified in only 16 (1.7%) of the athletes. Athletes training in the sports examined showed considerable differences with regard to cardiac dimensions. Endurance cyclists, rowers, and swimmers had the largest LV diastolic cavity dimensions and wall thickness. Athletes training in sports such as track sprinting, field weight events, and diving were at the lower end of the spectrum of cardiac adaptations to athletic training. Athletes training in sports associated with larger LV diastolic cavity dimensions also had higher values for wall thickness. Athletes training in isometric sports, such as weightlifting and wrestling, had high values for wall thickness relative to cavity dimension, but their absolute wall thickness remained within normal limits. Analysis of gender-related differences in cardiac dimensions showed that female athletes had smaller LV diastolic cavity dimension (average 2 mm) and smaller wall thickness (average 0.9 mm) than males of the same age and body size who were training in the same sport.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Sixty-six episodes of ventricular fibrillation within four hours: electrical stability restored by propafenone.

Ventricular fibrillation is a complication in patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction. We report the case of an unusually high number of episodes of ventricular fibrillation (66 episodes) that occurred within a period of 4 h in a patient with recent anterior myocardial infarction. In patients with acute or recent myocardial infarction and recurrent episodes of ventricular fibrillation, intravenous lidocaine is the antiarrhythmic medication of choice. In our patient, recurrences of ventricular fibrillation were not prevented either by lidocaine, or amiodarone. The rate of recurrence of ventricular fibrillation, however, decreased dramatically, twice, in the minutes following two separate boluses of propafenone, and the arrhythmia did not recur when continuous infusion of propafenone was started. We cannot exclude that were the combined antiarrhythmic effects of lidocaine, amiodarone and propafenone that led to the final control of the arrhythmia.

Amiodarone↗
PubMed1994

Dipyridamole echocardiographic test performed 3 days after an acute myocardial infarction: feasibility, tolerability, safety and in-hospital prognostic value.

In recent years, increasing evidence has pointed to the potential of dipyridamole stress echocardiography as a fast, effective, inexpensive method of risk stratification after an acute myocardial infarction. A very early stratification by this test could improve the patient's management and reduce the duration of in-hospital stay, and, thus, the costs. Two-hundred and fifty-one consecutive patients (208 male, age 58 +/- 11) with a two-dimensional echocardiogram of good technical quality underwent a dipyridamole echocardiographic test (DET) 70 +/- 6 h after an acute myocardial infarction. Criterion for positivity was the identification of a transient regional asynergy that was absent or of a lower degree in the baseline examination. Positivity was defined as 'at low-dose' or 'at high-dose' if the asynergy was detected before or after the 8th min of a drug infusion. All tests were performed without any major side effects. DET was positive in 149 (59%) and negative in 102 (41%) patients. During the hospital stay, cardiac events (death, reinfarction, angina) occurred in 52/251 patients: in 49/149 with a positive and in 3/102 with a negative test (sensitivity 94%, negative predictive value 97%, P < 0.00001). Severe events (death and reinfarction) occurred in 14/251: in 12/149 with a positive DET and in 2/102 with a negative DET (sensitivity 86%; negative predictive value: 98%; P < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Atrial natriuretic peptide response is blunted in patients with acute myocardial infarction and mild left ventricular dysfunction.

Neurohumoral parameters in 45 asymptomatic patients with acute myocardial infarction were measured. In patients with mild left ventricular dysfunction (ejection fraction < or = 45% and/or left ventricular end-diastolic pressure > or = 15 mm Hg), atrial natriuretic peptide levels differed significantly from those in patients with normal left ventricular function (127 +/- 74 pg/ml vs. 79 +/- 71 pg/ml; p < 0.001). After stimulus an increase in atrial natriuretic peptide levels (79 +/- 71 to 118 +/- 86 pg/ml; p < 0.001) was found only in patients with normal hemodynamic parameters. These data show that in patients with left ventricular dysfunction, the atrial natriuretic system is activated; however, atrial natriuretic peptide response to stimulus is present only in patients with normal hemodynamics.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Prognostic implications of novel beta cardiac myosin heavy chain gene mutations that cause familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Three novel beta cardiac myosin heavy chain (MHC) gene missense mutations, Phe513Cys, Gly716Arg, and Arg719Trp, which cause familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC) are described. One mutation in exon 15 (Phe513Cys) does not alter the charge of the encoded amino acid, and affected family members have a near normal life expectancy. The Gly716Arg mutation (exon 19; charge change of +1) causes FHC in three family members, one of whom underwent transplantation for heart failure. The Arg719Trp mutation (exon 19; charge change of -1) was found in four unrelated FHC families with a high incidence of premature death and an average life expectancy in affected individuals of 38 yr. A comparable high frequency of disease-related deaths in four families with the Arg719Trp mutation suggests that this specific gene defect directly accounts for the observed malignant phenotype. Further, the significantly different life expectancies associated with the Arg719Trp vs. Phe513Cys mutation (P < 0.001) support the hypothesis that mutations which alter the charge of the encoded amino acid affect survival more significantly than those that produce a conservative amino acid change.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[The prognostic stratification of the risk of sudden death and sustained ventricular tachycardia after an acute myocardial infarct: which patients should undergo programmed ventricular stimulation?].

BACKGROUND: Programmed ventricular stimulation performed early after acute myocardial infarction allows to identify patients at risk of sudden death and sustained ventricular tachycardia with high degree of predictive accuracy. This procedure, however, because of its invasive nature, is not desirable as a screening test for large numbers of patients. Therefore, it should be performed on a smaller group of postinfarction patients preselected on the basis of noninvasive testing. The aim of the present study was to identify, early after acute myocardial infarction, any procedure among noninvasive testing, able to selected with the highest sensitivity patients at risk of sudden death and sustained ventricular tachycardia to submit to programmed ventricular stimulation. METHODS: Two hundred and sixty four consecutive patients with recent myocardial infarction were evaluated and followed during a period of 12 months. In each patient 48 epidemiological, clinical and laboratory variables were evaluated. Laboratory variables were acquired between the 7th and the 12th day after the acute event. RESULTS: Multiple linear regression analysis showed that only Killip class, the number of ventricular premature depolarizations per hour and the presence of ventricular late potentials were significantly and independently related to the occurrence of sudden death and sustained ventricular tachycardia (F = 18.7; p < 0.00001). Combinations of these variables, determined at cut off levels best discriminating two subgroups of patients at different risk of the end-point events, proved to be able to accurately predict the outcome of our patients. The presence of at least one of the following conditions: Killip class > or = 2, ventricular premature depolarizations > or = 30 per hour, ventricular late potentials allowed to identify a first subgroup of patients at risk with a sensitivity of 100% (p = 0.00007), whereas the presence, at the same time, of all the above mentioned parameters allowed to identify a second subgroup of patients at risk with a 44% of positive predictive value (p = 0.00007). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the first subgroup of postinfarction patients selected on the basis of noninvasive testing should undergo programmed ventricular stimulation, the second might be treated by adequate antiarrhythmic therapy without undergo any further investigation, whereas the remaining patients (without late potentials, in Killip class 1 and with ventricular premature depolarizations < 30 per hour) might be discharged without any antiarrhythmic therapy.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

[Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors during acute phase of myocardial infarct].

Up to September, 1993, several questions were open on the use of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors after myocardial infarction. The SAVE trial has shown that patients with left ventricular dysfunction and a recent (mean 11 days) myocardial infarction benefit from assuming captopril per os during the subsequent clinical course. The SOLVD trials have indicated that therapy with enalapril per os increases the survival of patients with left ventricular dysfunction, a history of myocardial infarction and hemodynamic decompensation. However, the CONSENSUS II trial has not shown similar results on patients with all range left ventricular function, treated within 24 hours of infarction with i.v. enalaprilat and then enalapril per os. In this study, 6-month mortality has been slightly better in the placebo group, and there seems not to be any subgroup benefitting from the ACE inhibitor. In October and November, 1993, the International Cardiologic Community has received the results of 3 large multicenter trials on postinfarction patients: the AIRE (ramipril per os), the GISSI 3 (lisinopril per os) and the ISIS 4 (captopril per os) studies. These trials has pointed out the followings: 1) prompt therapy (within 24 hours of chest pain) with ACE inhibitors is able to improve short term survival in patients with clinical evidence of heart failure, in women and old patients; 2) ACE inhibitors and nitro derivatives are complementary therapies in the acute and subacute phase of infarction, and their association produces the best improvement in short-term survival. There seems to be no intelligible reason, up to now, to deem that any ACE inhibitor should be considered better than another one in the acute phase of infarction, but still during the first 72 hours after the onset of chest pain the advantages have been shown only with lisinopril and captopril. The negative results of the CONSENSUS II trial are probably dependent on the excessively abrupt acute hypotensive effect of i.v. enalaprilat. This last "large trial" decade has taught us that many treatments can be advantageous for acute myocardial infarction but, apart from thrombolysis, all other medical therapies should not be given extensively, but to peculiar patients carefully selected on clinical grounds. Guidelines from official consensus conferences are expected now, to segregate different patterns of clinical presentations to be treated differently.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1993

Selective activation of atrial natriuretic peptide in patients with myocardial infarction and mild left ventricular dysfunction.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether neurohumoral activation occurs in asymptomatic patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and without clinical signs of heart failure. During the early phase of AMI (mean 8 days), the neurohumoral profiles of 60 patients (mean age 59 range 37 to 70) were examined. Blood levels of the following humoral parameters were measured: atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), plasma renin activity, aldosterone and vasopressin. All patients underwent cardiac catheterization during hospitalization. Baseline hemodynamic characteristics identified left ventricular dysfunction (ejection fraction < or = 45% and/or left ventricular end-diastolic pressure > or = 15 mmHg) in 32 patients; the remaining 28 patients had normal hemodynamic parameters. In patients with AMI, plasma ANP levels differed significantly from control subjects (111 +/- 74 pg/ml vs. 53 +/- 18 pg/ml; P < 0.001). In patients with AMI and mild left ventricular dysfunction ANP levels were significantly increased when compared to patients with AMI and normal left ventricular function (129 +/- 73 pg/ml vs. 82 +/- 69 pg/ml; P < 0.001). The hemodynamic data showed a significant correlation with ANP only in patients with AMI and left ventricular dysfunction (EF% r = 0.42; LVEDP r = 0.44; P < 0.001). These data show that in patients with myocardial infarction and without heart failure, the atrial natriuretic peptide is the only neurohumoral system activated out of all neurohumoral systems tested in this population and its circulating levels are strictly related to the degree of left ventricular dysfunction.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Non-palpable lesions of the breast. Analysis of 111 cases].

The authors report a series of 111 cases of non-palpable breast tumours. Radiological examinations showed the following mammographic patterns: microcalcification (63%); irregular opacity and/or denseness (26%); opacity and low density microcalcifications (12%), to which 3 progressive risk rates were assigned (high, medium, low). Histological controls of the tumours showed a positive predictive value of 73% for mammographic patterns defined as "high-risk". Localisation using a metal probe proved to be a simple and efficacious method which was well tolerated by patients.

Biopsy, Needle↗