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Biomedical subjects

F Brancato

Publications and source records attributed to F Brancato.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1986

Corynebacterium hemolyticum as a cause of pharyngitis and scarlatiniform rash in young adults.

Over an 8-year period from 1973 through 1980, Corynebacterium hemolyticum was isolated from 103 of 24,695 throat cultures done at our hospital. Medical records were available for review from 33 of the 80 patients with a positive culture. Pharyngitis was present in all but 1, and 20 of the 32 symptomatic patients had a diffuse, erythematous, macular skin rash, often with a fine papular component, on the extremities and trunk. Screening of household contacts of 9 patients showed the presence of C. hemolyticum in the pharynges of 6 of 17 siblings but in 0 of 10 parents. Therapy with benzathine penicillin G or erythromycin resulted in rapid clinical improvement in most patients. In contrast to streptococcal pharyngitis, which is predominantly a disease of childhood, C. hemolyticum infection affects mostly teenagers and young adults: 30 of the 33 patients in this study were between the ages of 11 and 22. Within this age group, infection with C. hemolyticum is an important cause of pharyngitis associated with a scarlatiniform skin rash.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Somatostatin and cimetidine in the control of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding. A controlled multicenter study.

Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding remains a difficult emergency problem, and, despite recent pharmacological advances, the choice and results of medical treatment are the subject of debate. To determine the effectiveness of two potent inhibitors of gastric acid secretion, somatostatin and cimetidine, in the control of upper gastrointestinal bleeding of non-variceal origin, we initiated a multicentric, randomized, prospective therapeutic trial in 56 patients presenting with acute hemorrhage due to gastric and duodenal ulcers and erosions defined by uniform and precise criteria. The two drugs were administered i.v. for 48 hours at a dose of 250 mcg/h (somatostatin) and 1,600 mg/24 h (cimetidine). Vital signs, laboratory values, and gastric aspirate were checked frequently in accordance with a strict schedule; the number of blood transfusions was also noted. Endoscopy for the assessment of bleeding before admission to the trial and the end of treatment was performed in every patient. Bleeding stopped in 28 of the 30 (93.3%) patients treated with somatostatin, and in 16 of the 26 (61.5%) of those receiving cimetidine (p less than 0.01). The blood requirement of the patients treated with somatostatin and cimetidine was, on average, 1.10 +/- 1.16 and 2.46 +/- 4.03 units per patient, respectively (p less than 0.05). Somatostatin was also significantly superior - in the patients in whom the treatments were successful - with respect to the time taken to achieve this result. In conclusion, our results, together with those already published, point to a definite therapeutic effectiveness of somatostatin in upper gastrointestinal bleeding as here defined, and would appear to justify a more extensive clinical use under controlled conditions.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1979

Streptococcal pharyngitis: diagnosis by gram stain.

Group A beta-hemolytic streptococci were isolated from 49 (10.4%) of 472 patients with pharyngitis. Throat culture results, interpreted by five observers of varying experience, showed the mean sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of a positive Gram-stained smear of pharyngeal secretions as 73%, 96%, and 71%. Assignment to a high-risk group by clinical algorithm gave sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of only 45%, 83%, and 23%. The Gram-stained smear is the most accurate method of early diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis.

Adolescent↗