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Biomedical subjects

L Berardi

Publications and source records attributed to L Berardi.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Surveillance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Enterobacteriaceae producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBLE) in Northern France: a five-year multicentre incidence study.

In order to measure the incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and of Enterobacteriaceae producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBLE), and to evaluate the impact of the national guidelines for multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDRB) prevention in hospitals of Northern France, a multicentre study was conducted for three months every year starting in 1996, in volunteer hospital laboratories. All clinical specimens positive for MRSA and ESBLE were prospectively surveyed. During the five-year surveillance period, the overall proportion of MRSA was 38.4% in the 28,534 strains of S. aureus, and that of ESBLE was 11.4% in the 6121 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae and 47.7% in the 2353 strains of Enterobacter aerogenes. The overall incidence rates of clinical specimens positive for MRSA, ESBL-K. pneumoniae and E. aerogenes were 0.84. 0.05 and 0.12/1000 hospital-days (HD), respectively. In the 23 hospitals that participated in the survey every year, the proportion and incidence of ESBLE decreased. Hence, despite recommendations as for isolation precautions, MRSA remains poorly controlled and requires more effective measures.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1992

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: a critical review of the current methods to handle outliers.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the methods to handle marginal readings in the analysis of ambulatory blood pressure. DESIGN: Data obtained from automatic ambulatory blood pressure monitoring include several 'outliers', i.e. readings at the frontier of physiologically acceptable ranges. Several methods have been used to handle these readings. We need to know whether using different methods to reject outliers leads to different results in the analysis of the data. If so, then it is important that a common method be used by different authors. METHODS: Ten reported methods to handle outliers were selected and applied to a large set of unpublished blood pressure profiles (Novacor Diasys system). We compared the effects of data rejection by these methods on the mean values and standard deviations (calculated over 24 h, daytime and night-time) of the remaining data. RESULTS: The different methods had quite different effects on the same data set. Depending on the method used, the discarded data varied from 1 to 17% of the total number of readings. Among the rejected data, readings that occurred in the daytime varied from 14 to 56%. Also, 'high-value' outliers varied from 1 to 60% of the rejected data. On average over the total sample, the rejection of outliers had only a small effect on the mean values of blood pressure. In contrast, it may strongly reduce the standard deviation of the readings. CONCLUSION: The study emphasized the need to use a common method to handle outliers in the analysis of ambulatory blood pressure data.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Ambulatory blood pressure in young subjects with familial history of hypertension.

Office blood pressure (BP), ambulatory blood pressure, (one determination every 15 min, over an entire 24 h span), were measured in 206 young male subjects, including 96 individuals having first degree familial history of hypertension (the F group) and 110 control subjects, matched for age, having no familial history of hypertension (the C group). In both groups, age ranged from 19 to 25 y. After a complete clinical and laboratory examination, all subjects were diagnosed as in good health. In particular, none had cardiac, renal or neurologic involvement. No subject received medication. Over the whole sample, 126 subjects had normal office BP and 80 had borderline office BP. No difference was found in office diastolic BP between the C and F groups. Office systolic BP was somewhat higher in the F group, when compared to the C group, but the difference was in the limit of statistical significance (0.05 less than p less than 0.10). In contrast, ambulatory systolic BP was significantly higher in the F group, when compared to the C group, the difference (0.05 less than p less than 0.001) occurred in daytime and at night. The above difference was more significant (p less than 0.02 to p less than 0.005) and persisted over larger time-spans when only subjects with normal office BP in the C and F groups are compared. In contrast, when restricted to the borderlines only, office and ambulatory BP was the same in subjects with and without familial history of hypertension.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Original method of the treatment of achalasic megaesophagus with EEA stapler].

Esophageal sutures require the same general criteria applied for the realization of an intestinal suture. The lack of a serous membrane and the particular vascularization of the organ, though, make this portion of the gastroenteric tract very prone to serious complications. Undoubtedly, the introduction of new systems of suture renders easier, faster and more efficacious the work of the surgeon. In particular, the Authors stress the advantages that staplers can offer for the treatment of achalasic megaesophagus.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Enzymatic activation of lymphoid population following inflammatory reactions in the human appendix.

We have histochemically evaluated the LAP, AP and ANE activities of the human appendix in 100 surgical specimens. The mucosa has been particularly investigated for its different aspects during inflammatory conditions. Two main facts have been ascertained: the subepithelial location of macrophages, and the AP and ANE activities of two groups of cells in the germinal centers. Subepithelial macrophages show conspicuous AP activity that correlates with the degree of inflammatory response and of exposure to luminal antigens. In the germinal centers, AP and ANE activities disclose two further groups of positive cells, probably the same cells reacting to both technics. One group is rooted to the core of the germinal center; the other to the intermediate area between the germinal center and the follicular mantle.

Acid Phosphatase↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Choledochal calculosis due to a suture thread].

The authors recently observed a patient suffering from recurrent choledochal, postcholecystectomy calculosis caused by suture thread. Given the relative rarity of this pathology, the difficulty of preoperative diagnosis and the possible confusion with other anatomoclinical syndromes, they take this opportunity to make a number of diagnostic and therapeutic comments in the light of the latest literature on this subject.

Cholecystectomy↗