PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Bersani

Publications and source records attributed to G Bersani.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

[Familial occurrence and obstetric complications in siblings discordant for schizophrenia].

Obstetric complications seem to play a relevant role in the development of schizophrenia. This study aimed to assess whether not only frequency but also severity of obstetric complications was different in schizophrenic patients when compared with their healthy siblings. Furthermore, we examined whether a family history positive for schizophrenia was related to an increased frequency or severity of obstetric complications in healthy siblings. Frequency and severity of obstetric complications were evaluated in 76 subjects (30 schizophrenics and 46 siblings). The diagnosis of schizophrenia were made according to DSM III-R. Mothers were interviewed to gather data about obstetric complications and the "midwife protocol" by Parnas et al. (1982) was used to quantify presence and entity of obstetric complications. Information regarding family history were collected from mothers. We used the method of segregation analysis to test the mode of inheritance. Complicated births were more frequently found in schizophrenics independently from a family history positive for schizophrenia or schizophrenia related personality disorders and obstetric complications were more severe in schizophrenics with respect to siblings. Obstetric complications occurred more frequently among schizophrenics without genetic risk; the same result was not found in healthy sibs. Our findings show that obstetric complications would play a major role in patients especially if they show a negative family history for schizophrenia. Moreover, a family history positive for schizophrenia or schizophrenia related personality disorder seems not to augment the frequency or severity of obstetric complications in healthy sibs.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

5-HT2 receptor antagonism in dysthymic disorder: a double-blind placebo-controlled study with ritanserin.

Thirty patients suffering from dysthymic disorder participated in a 6-week double-blind trial comparing ritanserin 10 mg and placebo. After a single-blind placebo wash-out period of one week, the test medication was administered during 5 weeks on a double-blind basis. Twenty-three patients completed the study. At the end of the trial, ritanserin was significantly superior to placebo in its effect as manifested on the 19-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory X-1 and X-2. At the end of the study, the therapeutic effect was rated marked or moderate in 75% of the ritanserin-treated patients, but only in 18% of the controls. These data are consistent with the hypothesis of serotonin abnormalities in dysthymic disorder and suggest a therapeutic role of 5-HT2 antagonists. Ritanserin treatment was very well tolerated; no serious adverse experiences were reported.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Negative symptoms and visual behavior in DSM-III-R prognostic subtypes of schizophreniform disorder.

Eighteen male patients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophreniform disorder were rated on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms and their visual behavior during interview was recorded through an ethological technique. Affective flattening, alogia and the global severity of the negative-symptom syndrome were found to be more prominent among poor-prognosis patients. In addition, compared with patients with good prognostic features, poor-prognosis patients showed a pattern of visual behavior (less eye contact and more eye closures) suggesting poor rapport with the interviewer. The results demonstrate that cross-sectional phenomenology of patients with DSM-III-R schizophreniform disorder shows differences in important clinical domains, such as negative symptoms and capacity to establish and maintain social interaction.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Ambulatory 24-hour oesophageal pH monitoring in normal subjects: a multicentre study in Italy. G.I.S.M.A.D. GOR Study Group.

A multicentre study was performed in Italy in order to establish normal values for acid gastro-oesophageal reflux. In 73 healthy subjects 24-hour oesophageal pH measurements were carried out under standardized conditions. The hourly number of reflux episodes and oesophageal acid exposure was assessed and analyzed by means of a computerized system. The distribution frequency of both parameters was skewed to the left, thus exhibiting a non-normal pattern. Acid reflux was lowest during the night and highest after meals. The oesophageal acid exposure and the number of reflux episodes were correlated both over 24 hours and in the subsets studied. A good agreement was found with data from previous reports. Our findings should be helpful in establishing a data base for physiological gastro-oesophageal reflux.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Massive screening for colorectal cancer. A single institution's public commitment.

Data from three massive screening programs for the detection of colorectal cancer and adenomatous polyps were reproducible through the collaboration of several departments at Roswell Park Memorial Institute, Buffalo, NY. The majority of carcinomas detected had demonstrated no lymph node metastases. The percentage of screenees with positive stool occult blood tests discovered to have colorectal cancer and adenomatous polyps was 19%, 24%, and 21% in 1982, 1984, and 1987, respectively. The cost-effectiveness of this large-scale screening effort by centers such as Roswell Park Memorial Institute has been demonstrated in accordance with high public acceptance and the high incidence of colorectal cancer.

Colitis, Ulcerative↗
PubMed1990

5-HT2 antagonist ritanserin in neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism: a double-blind comparison with orphenadrine and placebo.

Several studies support the hypothesis of 5-HT (serotonin) involvement in the physiopathology of the extrapyramidal system. Ritanserin is a new compound with a high, selective, and long-lasting binding affinity for 5-HT2 receptors. A therapeutic effect of ritanserin has been reported in Parkinson's tremor and L-Dopa-induced dyskinesias but no effect was seen in essential tremor. In this double-blind comparative study with orphenadrine (150 mg daily p.o.) and placebo, ritanserin (30 mg daily p.o.) was administered to 36 schizophrenic outpatients who were being treated with neuroleptic drugs and who had parkinsonism. For a period of 3 weeks, the treatment was added to the antipsychotic therapy after a 7-day washout from previous antiparkinson medication. Psychopathology was rated weekly by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and showed no significant changes during the trial. The Mindham Rating Scale was used to assess symptoms of parkinsonism; at week 3, ritanserin was superior to orphenadrine (p less than 0.03) and to placebo (p less than 0.01). The results confirm previous observations of the therapeutic efficacy of ritanserin on neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism, and support the hypothesis that serotonin influences extrapyramidal physiopathology.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Ethological assessment of the DSM-III subtyping of unipolar depression.

An ethological method was employed to validate the DSM-III subtyping of unipolar, nondelusional depression. The nonverbal behavior of 44 depressed outpatients was video-recorded during psychiatric interview. The DSM-III subtyping was not significantly associated with sex or level of education. Patients with major depression (with or without melancholia) were significantly older than those with dysthymic disorder. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) scores of the 3 diagnostic groups indicated a progressive increase in symptom severity across DSM-III subtypes (dysthymic disorder less than major depression without melancholia less than major depression with melancholia). Ethological assessment failed to find any evidence for the validity of the DSM-III subtyping of unipolar depression. Of the 8 behavioral categories analyzed in this study, none showed statistically significant differences between the 3 diagnostic groups. Our interpretation of these results is that, whereas the DSM-III subtyping primarily reflects illness severity, the ethological profile measures a dimension of depression largely independent from severity, as indicated by the lack of correlation between the HRSD score and the categories of nonverbal behavior.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

HLA antigens and neuroleptic response in clinical subtypes of schizophrenia.

The frequency of HLA antigens of A and B loci was examined in a carefully selected sample of 91 schizophrenic patients from central Italy. This population showed no increase in antigens compared with the control group. However, in agreement with previous studies, a slight increase in A1 was observed in the hebephrenic subgroup and, in a lesser extent, an increase of A2 was found in the paranoid subgroup. Although these increases are more prominent when the subgroups are compared and tend to support the case for genetic heterogeneity, they fail to reach statistical significance. Response to neuroleptic treatment was studied in an attempt to further subdivide the clinical subgroups. A1-negative and A2-positive paranoid patients demonstrated a statistical better response to neuroleptics. The findings suggest that schizophrenia should be considered a heterogenous disease and that response to neuroleptics can be employed as an instrument of biological subclassification.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed1989

Reduced natural killer cell activity in major depression: neuroendocrine implications.

Natural killer cell activity (NKCA) was significantly reduced in a group of depressed patients, melancholic subtype, compared to sex- and age-matched controls. Corticotropin and cortisol values were significantly higher in the depressed subjects than in the controls, but no correlation between high hormone levels and low immunological activity was found in the patients.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1988

Corticotropin-releasing factor and adrenal function in major depression.

We investigated ACTH and cortisol responses after ovine CRF injection (1 microgram/kg one bolus) in a group of 11 drug-free patients suffering from major depression. When compared to sex- and age-matched normal controls, our depressed patients showed: Higher ACTH basal values (p less than 0.002); higher cortisol basal values (p less than 0.009); blunted ACTH response to oCRF administration (p less than 0.23); higher cortisol response to oCRF (p less than 0.001). Our data show that in depressed patients the feed-back mechanism is functionally intact at the pituitary level on one hand, while on the other, a hyperresponsiveness of adrenal cortex (even to minimal stimuli) seems to be present. Moreover, a hypersecretion of endogenous CRF in these patients seems to be likely.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMed1988

Computer aided positioning of manometric probe in the upper digestive tract.

A method not needing fluoroscopic control for positioning a manometric probe in the gastroduodenal tract is described. It is based on hydrostatic pressure variations occurring at each recording port of a multichannel perfused probe after changes in patient's position. The data are fed into a computer and the schematic representation of the probe showing its position and direction appear on the CRT screen. The results were visually and mathematically compared with those obtained with fluoroscopy and showed good correspondence between the two techniques in identification of the position of the probe.

Duodenum↗
PubMed1986

Interdigestive gastroduodenal motility and serum motilin levels in patients with idiopathic delay in gastric emptying.

The interdigestive gastroduodenal motor activity and serum motilin levels were studied in 22 dyspeptic patients with markedly delayed gastric emptying not due to diseases known to impair gastroduodenal motility and in 7 control subjects with normal gastric emptying. Motor activity was recorded using a manometric probe positioned in the gastric antrum and in the proximal duodenum, and blood samples for radioimmunoassay of motilin were taken every 15 min during the recording period. The control subjects showed gastroduodenal activity fronts of the migrating motor complex associated with motilin peaks. Almost all patients with delayed gastric emptying showed no activity fronts in the stomach, and only half of them showed activity fronts starting in the duodenum. In these patients a significant reduction in the number of motilin peaks and in the integrated motilin output during the identified peaks was also observed. The results of this study indicate that most dyspeptic patients with idiopathic delay in gastric emptying may also have an alteration in interdigestive gastroduodenal motility, mainly characterized by a lack of gastric activity fronts, associated with an impaired motilin release.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

99mTc-HIDA dynamic scintigraphy for the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux of bile.

In 5 patients with partial gastric resection and esophagitis, in whom esophageal pH metry was unable to demonstrate significant gastroesophageal reflux (GER), we administered i.v. 5 mCi (185 MBq) of 99mTc-HIDA, the patient lying under a computer-assisted LFOV gamma camera. When gallbladder image was evident, caerulein was administered i.v. at a physiologic dose in order to induce gallbladder contraction, and in the subsequent 45 min the patient was asked to perform a standard series of manoeuvres that increase the intraabdominal pressure (Valsalva, etc.) and favour GER. Scintigraphic images and time/activity curves obtained from areas of interest corresponding to gastric remnant and distal esophagus showed that at least one of these manoeuvres in each case was followed by the appearance of the radiocompound in the distal esophagus, indicating a 99mTc-HIDA-tagged bile GER. Consequently, we believe that HIDA-GER dynamic scintigraphy may be more useful than esophageal pH metry in demonstrating the biliary origin of an esophagitis.

Bile Reflux↗
PubMed1985

Effect of Billroth II operation on the intestinal interdigestive motor activity.

The interdigestive motor activity of the gastric remnant and the efferent jejunal loop was studied manometrically in 10 patients who underwent Billroth II operation for duodenal ulcer. Two groups, one of 9 normal subjects and the other of 7 duodenal ulcer patients, were used as controls. In the Billroth II group the interdigestive migrating motor complex (IMMC) showed a higher relative duration of phase II activity than the controls and a shorter mean time-interval than the controls between subsequent activity fronts, with abnormal jejunal propagation. These findings indicate that the distal two-thirds of the stomach are necessary for the inhibitory mechanism, which in normal conditions slow down the idiointestinal interdigestive motor activity to the level of that of the stomach, and suggest that some postgastrectomy syndromes, such as diarrhoea, may have their pathological basis in this hyperactive intestinal IMMC.

Duodenal Ulcer↗
PubMed1985

Endoscopic electromyography and manometry of the human sphincter of Oddi.

The myoelectric and manometric activities of the sphincter of Oddi were recorded in 8 patients using an original probe passed through the papilla of Vater during duodenoscopy. The sphincter of Oddi's myoelectric activity showed rhythmic bursts of action potentials which appeared in correspondence with the ascending phase of the phasic pressure waves. On the basis of these results, we believe that electromyography could in some cases replace manometry for studying sphincter of Oddi motility, since it avoids pressure perfusion of the bilio-pancreatic tract, with its concomitant risks, and provides sufficient information for motor studies.

Ampulla of Vater↗
PubMed1983

Endoscopic manometry in the diagnosis of the postcholecystectomy pain syndrome.

A manometric study of the distal biliary tract was carried out by means of a side-hole perfused catheter passed through the papilla Vateri during duodenoscopy in patients with postcholecystectomy biliary pain not due to stones or inflammation of the biliary tree. The sphincter of Oddi showed in these cases a significantly higher basal tone than in controls with superimposed phasic pressure waves of high amplitude. The basal pressure of the common bile duct was also higher than in controls. These manometric findings may help differentiate the functional papillary stenosis from other causes of the postcholecystectomy pain syndrome and may be useful in settling the question of performing sphincterotomy in these patients.

Ampulla of Vater↗