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F Ciferri

Publications and source records attributed to F Ciferri.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Chagas' disease: another cause of cerebral mass in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

We report the first case of Chagas' disease causing a brain mass in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The illness occurred in a patient living outside a traditional chagasic endemic area and represented reactivation of long dormant Trypanosoma cruzi infection. A Salvadoran-born resident of the United States with diagnosed AIDS developed hemiparesis due to a brain mass. Histopathologic examination and culture of a brain biopsy specimen established that T. cruzi infection produced the lesion. The patient's epidemiologic history excluded newly acquired trypanosomal infection. Thus, cerebral Chagas' disease must now be considered another potential opportunistic infection in AIDS. This is of particular concern as the pandemic spreads to large Latino populations previously exposed to infection with the parasite.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1985

Immunologic studies in patients with chyluria.

Patients with chyluria, postoperative chylothorax, or surgical thoracic duct drainage are depleted of lymphocytes, IgA, and C3 as a result of the loss of lymphatic cellular and humoral elements, but the specific defects have not been well characterized. Therefore, we investigated the immunologic status of three patients with longstanding chyluria who were lymphopenic but did not have evidence of opportunistic infections. All patients had normal levels of immunoglobulins except for a moderate decrease in the IgA fraction, a normal antibody response to viral agents, and a normal hypersensitivity response to at least one of six recall antigens. Their complement levels were essentially normal. All were leukopenic because of decreased numbers of circulating lymphocytes. Two had depressed relative and absolute numbers of OKT4 (helper/inducer) T cells and normal or increased relative numbers of OKT8 (cytotoxic/suppressor) T cells, resulting in a marked reversal of the OKT4 to OKT8 ratio. The third was severely depleted of both OKT4 and OKT8 cells. The response of their peripheral blood mononuclear cells to mitogen stimulation was reduced, but they all had normal or increased absolute and relative numbers of natural killer (NK) cells as defined by HNK-1 or OKM-1. Their NK activity was less than that of normal controls unless stimulated by interferon, suggesting that many of the NK cells were immature. Normal delayed hypersensitivity, reduced but effective mitogen stimulation, and a normal NK response after interferon may be factors that protect these patients against opportunistic infections and neoplasms.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1985

Chronic chyluria: a clinical study of 3 patients.

Studies of patients with chyluria or chylothorax have demonstrated significant disruptions of protein, blood and fat metabolism that may result in iron deficiency anemia, hypoproteinemia, hypolipidemia and malnutrition. To document the sequential development of these complications we performed serial clinical and biochemical studies for 2 to 12 years in 3 patients with presumed filarial chyluria whose sole treatment had been diethylcarbamazine. Despite the chronic loss of chyle in the urine these 3 patients did not have significant complications during the period of observation. The weight and blood pressure remained stable. No persistent anemia, hypoproteinemia or hypolipidemia was noted. Except for 1 patient in whom a transient decrease of the creatinine clearance developed during pregnancy, no permanent renal function impairment occurred. These observations suggest that chronic chyluria may not always result in serious alterations of the physical status or body functions of these patients requiring surgical repair, and supports the hypothesis that untreated chyluria could be a relatively benign process in our milieu.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Human pulmonary dirofilariasis in the United States: a critical review.

The published data on 60 patients with solitary pulmonary nodules caused or presumed caused by Dirofilaria immitis acquired in the United States are reviewed to characterize the clinical and parasitological features of this disease. Thus far, cases have been reported from 15 states and their geographic distribution has followed that of canine dirofilariasis. Infections have occurred in males twice as often as in females and 56% of all infections have presented in the age group 40-59 years. There has been no apparent racial preference. The presence or absence of symptoms have followed a random distribution and have not been related to the location of the nodule in the lungs, the age, or the sex of the patients. The distribution of the nodules in the lungs also has been random and unrelated to the age or sex of the patients. Fifty-six patients (95%) had a single nodule and three (5%) had two nodules in separate lobes. Ninety percent of the nodules contained a single worm but occasionally two or three worms have been present in the same nodule. The transverse diameter of the worms has ranged between 100 and 400 microns. No single laboratory procedure has been useful in the preoperative diagnosis of these nodules. By radiographic measurement 76% of the nodules were 2 cm or less in diameter. Only seven patients (11.6%) were potentially immuno-compromised. Serial observations in four patients suggest that the lesions are radiographically stable and may eventually become calcified.

Adult↗