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Biomedical subjects

G Fava

Publications and source records attributed to G Fava.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Laser phototherapy following HpD administration in superficial neoplastic lesions.

We report our preliminary clinical experience with hematoporphyrin derivative (HpD) injection and argon or dye laser irradiation for the treatment of 61 surface neoplastic lesions in 7 patients. Forty-three sites were multiple basal cell carcinoma in 5 patients, and the remaining 18 were cutaneous and subcutaneous recurrent breast carcinoma after mastectomy in the thoracic wall. The patients were selected on the basis of the lack of indication for conventional therapeutic modalities. The selection of irradiation procedures and laser source was based on the thickness of the lesion and extension of the disease. The photochemical reaction between HpD injected i.v. at a dose of 3 mg/kg body weight and the laser beam at a dose of 60 to 120 J/cm2 resulted in 75% favorable responses at the treated sites. Optimal therapeutic effects appeared to be critically dependent on total light dose and tumor infiltration patterns. The phototherapeutic technique proved to be effective in selected cases of neoplastic lesions, especially when conventional treatment modalities were poorly indicated or contraindicated.

Aged↗

A comparison of efficacy of photoradiation therapy and other conventional treatment modalities on experimental MS-2 sarcoma.

The therapeutic efficacy of photoradiation therapy (PRT) following hematoporphyrin derivative (HpD) administration was compared in the experimental MS-2 tumour model to that of conventional treatment methods for local control of neoplastic diseases. The therapeutic effects of PRT and surgical removal of primary tumour were comparable in these experiments. However, optimal effects were critically dependent on the stage of tumour development. In addition, the therapeutic advantage of PRT over radiotherapy suggest an interesting role of a new approach in tumours resistant to this conventional treatment.

Animals↗

Effectiveness of laser photoradiation therapy following hematoporphyrin derivative administration in the experimental MS-2 tumor model.

The effectiveness of laser photoradiation therapy with hematoporphyrin derivative sensitization was tested in the MS-2 sarcoma. This solid tumor, transplanted into the pad of the hind leg of BALB/c mice, was found to be a sensitive experimental model for a quantitative evaluation of response to phototherapy and for determination of critical parameters in laser phototherapy treatment. Under our experimental conditions, optimal therapeutic effects appeared to be critically dependent on drug dose, number of treatments, light intensity, and irradiation of the peripheral border of the tumor.

Animals↗

CO2 lasers: beam patterns in relation to surgical use.

According to surgeons operating with a variety of CO2 lasers available at the National Cancer Institute of Milan (Coherent, Sharplan, Valfivre), these lasers have different cutting and coagulation properties. To identify what physical parameters might corroborate the subjective impression of the surgeons, a comparative study of the crater forms in perspex samples was performed. Perspex was chosen for its thermal properties (in fact, its thermal conductivity and diffusivity are similar to those of organic tissue) and because it allowed good visualization and measurement of crater characteristics. Depth of penetration, crater diameter, and extension of thermal damage were measured against power, focal length, and exposure time for each CO2 laser model. These results can be used as an index of behaviour of different surgical lasers. It appears that for fully characterizing the interaction of surgical lasers with the sample, it is necessary to specify either power, focal length, exposure time, or beam mode.

Biophysical Phenomena↗

Laser oncology in Italy: experimental research and clinical applications at the National Cancer Institute, Milan.

CO2, Nd:YAG, and argon lasers have been used for 5 years for experimental and clinical procedures at the National Cancer Institute of Milan under the auspices of the National Research Council. Experimental data regarding tumor cell spread through lymphatic and hematic channels and cell viability in the fumes after CO2 laser irradiation are reported. New advantages in the combined treatment modalities have been demonstrated, since the synergism between the low power argon laser beam and chemotherapeutic agents (anthracyclines) was assessed on cell cultures and the least toxic and the most effective doses of the drugs were identified. Due to the optical properties of the laser beam, physical measurements of the delivered energy and mathematical calculation of the energy per tissue volume unit to be ablated increase the precision in microsurgery especially when conservative managements are indicated. Main applications in surgical oncology, and comparison versus conventional methods, both with vaporization and excisional techniques, according to specific therapeutic protocols, in general surgery, otolaryngology, gynecology, and endoscopy, even on an outpatient basis, are finally illustrated in a series of 600 cases.

Animals↗

[Incidence of painful pronation in pediatric traumatology].

After examining the traumatic mechanism responsible for the lesion and considering the possible pathogenetic interpretations, the Authors pass to a description of the clinical picture and the simple but effective reduction manoeuvre. The attached cases tend to emphasize the by no means negligible frequency of painful pronation among childhood traumatisms, a condition often misunderstood and a source of wrong diagnostic interpretations.

Arm Injuries↗

[Anatomo-pathologic and therapeutic considerations on the Papineau method].

The authors study the treatment of bone infections through Papineau's technique, and emphasize the element they consider essential in the process restoring the loss of substance: the "bouton" according to the French School. On the basis of the experience deriving from the treatment of 22 patients, they subsequently point out the importance of local antibiotic therapy and, on the contrary, the inefficacy of the administration of antibiotics by general way, at least as far as the not strictly surgical period is concerned.

Administration, Topical↗

MEDIC: a language to process clinical data for elementary statistical purposes.

A new language has been developed which is helpful for handling data, already collected and stored on disk, with the aim of producing reports of clinical interest. For each clinical data bank a dictionary is generated, which contains all information needed to fully identify each medical item (e.g., name, type, attributes, indexed/single value). Now the user can write programs in a very easy way using the statements of the MEDIC language which give him the possibility of powerfully filtering data, making calculations and producing reports. Data integrity is achieved by the fact that users can only accede to data from the data bank and cannot alter data or modify them on disk. A special emphasis has been given, when designing MEDIC, to the possibility of counting data which satisfy certain sets of conditions, and to special output functions, as histograms. Programs written in MEDIC language are processed by MEDIC generator, are immediately executable, and have the possibility of tracing/debugging (the tracing option is chosen when program is starting execution). At execution time the user chooses in a very easy way the rules of scanning data bank, for example, the whole data bank and single ranges of records.

Computers↗

[Modified Villadot's operation in brain-damaged patients].

The Authors' purpose is to propose an operation, based on Viladot's, which will be technically simple and not involve any mutilation: it is performed in order to provide good support to children with valgus flat foot suffering from cerebral paralysis of spastic type or secondary to other neurological forms; it may however also be indicated in primitive valgus flat foot.

Adolescent↗

[Incidence of skin changes during active chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis. Comparison with normal controls].

The frequency of the principal skin changes held to be typical of chronic diseases of the liver has been evaluated together with the frequency of diseases of primarily dermatological interest in a group of 116 chronic liver patients (73 with cirrhosis, 43 with active chronic hepatitis) and in a group of 90 controls comparable by sex and age. The frequency of skin changes secondary to liver disease was statistically higher in the patients with respect to the control group. The incidence of primarily skin diseases associated with liver disease was, by contrast, extremely rare. The simultaneous presence of spiders, hepatic palms and white nails was observed in 21% of the chronic liver patients, while it was never encountered in the controls. Clinical observation of these changes (particularly the triad mentioned) is therefore highly indicative of chronic liver disease, even without a significant clinical history.

Adult↗