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Biomedical subjects

G Percoco

Publications and source records attributed to G Percoco.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Myocardial parasite persistence in chronic chagasic patients.

The persistence of Trypanosoma cruzi tissue forms was detected in the myocardium of seropositive individuals clinically diagnosed as chronic chagasic patients following endomyocardial biopsies (EMBs) processed by immunohistochemical (peroxidase-anti-peroxidase [PAP] staining) and molecular (polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) techniques. An indirect immunofluorescent technique revealed antigenic deposits in the cardiac tissue in 24 (88.9%) of 27 patients. Persistent T. cruzi amastigotes were detected by PAP staining in the myocardium of 22 (84.6%) of 26 patients. This finding was confirmed with a PCR assay specific for T. cruzi in 21 (91.3%) of 23 biopsy specimens from the same patients. Statistical analysis revealed substantial agreement between PCR and PAP techniques (k = 0.68) and the PCR and any serologic test (k = 0.77). The histopathologic study of EMB specimens from these patients revealed necrosis, inflammatory infiltrates, and fibrosis, and made it possible to detect heart abnormalities not detected by electrocardiogram and/or cineventriculogram. These indications of myocarditis were supported by the detection of T. cruzi amastigotes by the PAP technique or its genome by PCR. They suggest that although the number of parasites is low in patients with chronic Chagas' disease, their potential for heart damage may be comparable with those present during the acute phase. The urgent necessity for testing new drugs with long-term effects on T. cruzi is discussed in the context of the present results.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

a 49-year-old woman with dyspnoea, palpitations and syncope.

Pulmonary hypertension is rarely described in association with Sjögren's syndrome. The authors report the case of a patient in which pulmonary hypertension was the inaugural clinical manifestation of primary Sjögren's syndrome. Clinical assessment, differential diagnosis, etiopathological implications, and therapeutic approach are discussed.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed1985

Poor R wave progression in pure mitral stenosis. Correlation with hemodynamic data.

Poor R wave progression in the right precordial leads has frequently been reported in patients with pure mitral stenosis, but has never been investigated from clinical and hemodynamic points of view. In this work the clinical, electrocardiographic and hemodynamic data of 19 patients (mean age: 49 +/- 8.6 years), with pure mitral stenosis and poor R wave progression (study group) were compared with those of 19 subjects with pure mitral stenosis and normal R wave progression (control group). The age, sex distribution and duration of mitral valve disease were similar in the two groups; also clinical status, i.e. the distribution in the functional classes (NYHA), was similar in the two groups. Mitral valve area was similar in the two groups (1.3 +/- 0.5 vs 1.1 +/- 0.3 cm2), whereas wedge pressure, mean pulmonary artery pressure, systolic and diastolic right ventricle pressures and total pulmonary resistances showed significant lower values in patients with poor R wave progression compared to those with normal R wave progression (P less than 0.05). The hemodynamic variables of left ventricle and the cardiac index were similar in the two groups. In study group patients there was higher prevalence of vertical axis (P less than 0.05). These data indicate that in pure mitral stenosis, clinical status is similar in patients with poor R wave progression and in those with normal R wave progression, whereas in the former there is slighter hemodynamic involvement of the right ventricle.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

[Metoprolol effect on ECG exercise test in patients with stable angina pectoris. Computer analysis (author's transl)].

The effect of metoprolol in ECG experiments induced by a treadmill exercise test, was studied in 30 patients with stable angina pectoris. The study was a simple blind cross-over between metoprolol (150 mg/die) and placebo. The evaluation of ECG recordings (V5 lead) was carried out by a computer program. In order to assess the ST-segment depression, the ST 0.8 (Depression at 80 msec after R-peak) and AST (ST area) values were used. We observed an increased exercise tolerance after administration of metoprolol (P less than 0.001) and a significant reduction of ST segment depression for ST 0.8 (P less than 0.01) and AST (P less than 0.005) at the maximal commun work load attained by every patient in the metoprolol and placebo tests. When the evaluation of ECG measurements were performed at the maximal commun double product no significant modifications were observed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Reverse engineering techniques applied to a human skull, for CAD 3D reconstruction and physical replication by rapid prototyping.

The production of a copy of an existing object of complex shape is one of the typical applications of the integration between two modern computer-based technologies, reverse engineering (RE) and rapid prototyping (RP). The method is extremely versatile and can be used in various applicative domains (e.g. replacement of anatomical parts with artificial prostheses, replication of skeletal remains). Two different acquisition techniques of images of a skull, by laser and by CT scan, were compared to ascertain which enabled more accurate reproduction of the original specimen. The skull was chosen due to it being the body part most often used in medico-legal investigations (for personal identification, skull-photo superimposition techniques, forensic art, etc). Comparison between the copy and the original yielded satisfactory results for both techniques. However, CT scanning demonstrated some advantages over the laser technique, as it provided a cleaner point cloud, enabling shorter pre-reproduction processing times, as well as data on the internal parts, which resulted in the reproduction of a more faithful copy.

Biomedical Engineering↗