Biomedical subjects

Giuseppe Favretto

Publications and source records attributed to Giuseppe Favretto.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Pulmonary embolism: diagnostic algorithms.

In 90% of cases the clinical suspicion of pulmonary embolism (PE) is raised by clinical signs and symptoms, while in only 10% of cases PE is suspected on the basis of electrocardiographic, arterial blood gas analysis or radiological findings. The combination of clinical signs and symptoms and the results of first-level diagnostic tests (electrocardiography, gas analysis and chest X-ray) allows a fairly accurate classification of patients with "clinical suspicion of PE" into three categories of clinical (or pre-test) probability: low, intermediate and high. The clinical diagnosis of PE is very often inaccurate making the use of additional tests, including imaging techniques, mandatory. The choice and the combination (= diagnostic algorithms) of second- and third-level diagnostic tests (D-dimer, venous ultrasound, echocardiography, lung scintigraphy, helical computed tomography and pulmonary angiography) depend primarily on the clinical conditions of patients and their pre-test probability. We propose two diagnostic algorithms: 1) a diagnostic algorithm for patients with clinically suspected PE and critical clinical conditions (unstable patients), 2) a diagnostic algorithm for patients with clinically suspected PE and non-critical clinical conditions (hemodynamically stable patients).

Algorithms↗

PubMed2003

[Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension].

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is due to unresolved or recurrent pulmonary embolism. In the United States the estimated prevalence is 0.1-0.5% among survived patients with pulmonary embolism. The survival rate at 5 years was 30% among patients with a mean pulmonary artery pressure > 40 mmHg at the time of diagnosis and only 10% among those with a value > 50 mmHg. The interval between the onset of disturbances and the diagnosis may be as long as 3 years. Doppler echocardiography permits to establish the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension. Radionuclide scanning determines whether pulmonary hypertension has a thromboembolic basis. Right heart catheterization and pulmonary angiography are performed in order to establish the extension and the accessibility to surgery of thrombi and to rule out other causes. The surgical treatment is thromboendarterectomy. A dramatic reduction in the pulmonary vascular resistance can be achieved; corresponding improvements in the NYHA class--from class III or IV before surgery to class I-II after surgery--are usually observed. Patients who are not considered candidates for thromboendarterectomy may be considered candidates for lung transplantation.

Chronic Disease↗

PubMed2002

[Pulmonary scintigraphy in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism].

Pulmonary scintigraphy constitutes an important step in the non invasive diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE). This technique may be employed for the evaluation of the pulmonary perfusion alone, as in Italy and in the PISA-PED study, or else even for the evaluation of the pulmonary ventilation (as in Anglo-Saxon countries and in the PIOPED study). In the present study, the reasons which have prompted the ANMCO-SIC Commission for the Guidelines for The Prophylaxis, Diagnosis and Therapy of Pulmonary Thromboembolism to propose, for the diagnostic work-up of the patient with clinically suspected PE, the use of perfusion scintigraphy alone and of the classification criteria employed in the PISA-PED study instead of the more commonly utilized ventilatory-perfusion scintigraphy and of the criteria included in the PIOPED article, are discussed. Besides, the Commission's decision to consider PE as being present in case of agreement between the scintigraphic and clinical pictures, and to exclude this condition when the scintigraphic outcome is normal/almost normal regardless of the clinical probabilities, is also motivated.

Humans↗