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Biomedical subjects

L De Santis

Publications and source records attributed to L De Santis.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

[Physiopathology of intestinal anastomoses and dehiscences].

A lot of mechanisms of healing of intestinal anastomoses has been explained. A leading role in the intestinal wall is made by the submucosal tunica, where collagen synthesis and degradation process take place, but local and systemic factors are present by a definite causal action. Technique of suture, materials and surgeon's experience are of fundamental importance for the success of operation, even if in some cases it is important to take in consideration the clinical situation: emergency or not, the patient's state and age, concomitant diseases, pharmacological or radiotherapeutic treatments. Nowadays surgical research tends towards biochemical and molecular field to identify the factors, that speed up the healing process to use them in suturing materials getting a quick healing as soon as possible.

Adult↗

[Breast cancer in elderly women].

Breast cancer represents an important epidemiological and clinical problem, and the elderly age represents a large proportion of women with breast cancer. In patients older than 65-year, the frequency of breast cancer is 50% and more. Early diagnosis and adequate therapy may play an important role also in the elderly. We performed a retrospective analysis of 146 women older than 65-year to determine the effect of age in management of the disease.

Age Factors↗

[Complications of peptic ulcer disease in the elderly].

Peptic disease is even more described in the elderly patients. Is it different from the young people peptic disease? Is it a specific syndrome? These questions are debated by the authors from their experience about in the old age surgery. In 1997, out of 569 oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopies positive for peptic disease, about 2/5 of the patients were older than 65-year with a high percentage of hypersecretive patients. Also the incidence of complications is similar in the aged and young patients, but their course is much more serious in the elderly. NSAID therapy was not always demonstrated as a determining factor of complications in the elderly. The ulcer perforation is the most serious complication; in the over-70 year aged persons a very severe course is often demonstrated. In conclusion in the elderly a specific diagnostic and therapeutic care is recommended to avoid the high incidence of deadly complications.

Age Factors↗

[Stomach cancer in the elderly].

Gastric cancer often affect very old patients even if it is not a typical disease of the elderly. The Authors report their experience on 108 patients (mean age of 77.8 years) affected by gastric cancer; early diagnosis and surgical technique are discussed.

Age Factors↗

[Surgery of inguinal and femoral hernia in the elderly].

Old people are continuously increasing in frequency but age is not a significant factor to value the operative risk in hernia surgery. From June 1985 to December 1996, 189 patients, aged > 80-year, were submitted to hernia surgery. No complications were noted when elective surgery was performed. Emergent procedure was undertaken in 7% of the patients major perioperative complications and one death were registered in this group of patients. Mean hospital stay has decreased in the period of the study: was 2.2 days in the last two years. Local anesthesia permitted a day surgery procedure in 60% of cases.

Aged↗

Term and postterm low-risk pregnancies: management schemes for the reduction of high rates of cesarean section.

BACKGROUND: We compare trends and current levels of cesarean section delivery by indication in some industrialized countries to help us understand factors underlying national differences in obstetric delivery practice and identify pathways to lower cesarean rates. STUDY DESIGN: In this report we describe the schemes employed at our Department for the management of low-risk at term and postterm pregnancies and list the most important motivations for increased cesarean section rate and remedies suggested to reduce high cesarean section rate. Moreover a randomized trial to assess the role of labor induction with PGE2 gel vs i.v. Oxytocin+Amniotomy in the management of prolonged pregnancy is being evaluated presently at our center. METHODS: To date, 75 postterm pregnancies have been followed. Patients are enrolled at > or = 287 days (41 weeks). Intracervical PGE2 gel (0.5 mg) is used for cervical ripening. Induction of labor is randomly performed using intravaginal PGE2 gel (2 mg) or i.v. Oxytocin+Amniotomy. RESULTS: Overall rates of 75% for spontaneous delivery, and 25% for cesarean section have been observed in our study group of prolonged pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS: The accurate labelling of low- and high-risk pregnancy and the appropriate management of term and postterm pregnancy are two important steps for the reduction of a high rate of cesarean section.

Adolescent↗

In vitro production of human anti-sperm antibodies: effect of an oligoclonal antibody (F6) on sperm-egg interaction.

A method has been developed to establish lines of transformed lymphocytes able to produce in vitro the same anti-sperm antibodies as those naturally occurring in immuno-infertile individuals. We utilized lymphocytes from a male donor whose serum contained anti-sperm antibodies of the IgG class up to the dilution 1:10,000, as detected by means of immunobead binding. T lymphocytes were separated from B lymphocytes using magnetic beads coated with anti-T antibody. B lymphocytes were then placed at a concentration of 5 x 10(6)/ml in a 96-well plate, stimulated with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and transformed with Epstein-Barr virus. After a few days, only transformed cells continued growing and these were collected. The supernatant was tested for production of anti-sperm antibodies and those transformed lymphocytes shown to be synthesising antibodies directed against the sperm head and the tail were cloned. We obtained a clone of cells producing antibodies of the IgG1 class directed against the head of the spermatozoon. This oligoclonal antibody (F6) recognized a 58-kDa band from a lysate of sperm membranes and was able to reduce the penetration of zona-free hamster oocytes by capacitated spermatozoa.

Animals↗

Potential for intergenerational conflict in Cuban and Haitian immigrant families.

A descriptive survey of 30 Cuban and 30 Haitian immigrant mothers describes and differentiates the families within the two cultural groups on: (a) sociodemographic characteristics; (b) concepts of children; and (c) childrearing beliefs and practices related to independence training, sex role development, and discipline patterns. Results indicate the two groups have similar sociodemographic characteristics but differ on qualities admired in boys and girls, career expectations held for their children, social autonomy allowed male and female children, and methods used to instill proper sex role behavior. Findings suggest the existing potential for intergenerational conflict in families within immigrant groups whose language and cultural beliefs differ from those of the culture into which they have entered and are acculturating. Implications for care indicate a need for psychiatric mental health nurse (PMH nurses) to use the principles of cultural brokerage for intervention in and prevention of intergenerational conflict. Emphasis is placed on the development of transcultural interventions designed to empower immigrant parents to address the real or perceived conflicting childrearing beliefs and practices held between their original culture and the culture into which they are acculturating.

Acculturation↗

Flow cytometric analysis of c-myc oncoprotein in non-small-cell lung carcinoma: comparison with immunohistochemical results.

c-myc oncoprotein expression was evaluated in 36 non-small-cell lung carcinomas using immunohistochemical and flow cytometric analysis. Formalin fixed and paraffin embedded material was used. The same monoclonal antibody (mouse anti-human c-myc) was employed both for immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. For the immunohistochemical evaluation we calculated the percentage of stained cells on 200 neoplastic cells. c-myc oncoprotein was measured using flow cytometry by linking the monoclonal with a secondary FITC-conjugated antibody; for each sample 20,000 events were analysed and the percentage of cells positive for green fluorescence was calculated. DNA content was obtained by propidium iodide staining. Results showed a high correlation between immunohistochemical and cytometric data, suggesting that flow cytometry could be used as an alternative to immunohistochemistry in evaluating nuclear antigens. Moreover, using flow cytometry information on DNA content can be obtained simultaneously.

Adenocarcinoma↗

[Closed surgical treatment in acute severe pancreatitis].

Between 1976 and 1994, 318 patients underwent surgical closed retro-endoperitoneal drainage and post-operative lavage for acute necrotizing severe pancreatitis. The main indication was sepsis (66.4%). The ratio between operated on and the overall number of observed patients has been progressively shifting towards medical treatment. Furthermore in the operated group the timing of surgery has been delayed step by step. The Authors discuss improvements in the understanding of the etiological and therapeutical aspects of the disease which has had a better outcome in recent years, survival rate of 91.4%. The personal option for the closed surgical approach is based on the progressive improvement of the technique and on the good results obtained both in terms of mortality and associated morbidity; as regards the latter problem the open techniques seems to be related to a higher complication rate than the closed one.

Acute Disease↗

Role of DNA ploidy and ERB-B2 oncogene expression in the prognosis of endometrial carcinoma.

Seventy-three patients with endometrial carcinoma have been retrospectively evaluated in this paper. Stage, grade, depth of myometrial invasion, flow cytometric DNA ploidy and ERB-B2 oncogene expression by immunohistochemical method have been analyzed on paraffin embedded tissue. Results showed the existence of a significant correlation between stage and grade of neoplasia and between DNA ploidy and course of disease; it has been observed that patients with aneuploid tumor tend to have a shorter time before relapse of disease. No significant correlation between depth of myometrial invasion and survival was found. Besides, it has been shown that tumours with ERB-B2 oncogene hyperexpression seem to have a more aggressive evolution.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Efficacy of CO2 laser surgery in treating squamous intraepithelial lesions. An analysis of clinical and virologic results.

This paper reports the clinical and virologic results of CO2 laser treatment for squamous intraepithelial lesions in 154 patients. On the basis of cervical canal involvement, vaporization or conization was performed. Failure rates following the first and second treatments were 4.5% and 0%, respectively. However, human papillomavirus persistence in several women with completely normal follow-up suggests that one of the possible mechanisms of failure could be reexposure of the healing area to a viral reservoir within the "normal" epithelium.

Adult↗

Value of panel reactive antibodies (PRA) as a guide to the treatment of hyperimmunized patients in renal transplantation.

Patient presensitization represents a considerable problem in candidacy for renal transplantation. While it is well known that hyperimmunized patients--panel reactive antibody (PRA) higher than 60%--create difficulties in donor matching and have a worse outcome than non-hyperimmunized patients, less information is available on patients with an intermediate degree of sensitization (30-60%). In order to evaluate how graft outcome relates to such degrees of sensitization, 241 consecutive transplanted patients were divided into two groups on the basis of their previous year's PRA peak: group A, PRA 0-29%; group B, PRA 30-60%. Group A showed a significantly better survival both in the first year (90% vs 79%, P < 0.05) and in the third year (82% vs 64%, P < 0.01). However, detailed analysis of group B demonstrated that some parameters may significantly influence graft outcome: (1) better compatibility on locus DR; (2) a primary kidney transplant; (3) a dialysis duration of less than 6 months; and (4) the prophylactic use of antilymphocyte globulin (ALG).

Adolescent↗

The prevalence of HPV16DNA in normal and pathological cervical scrapes using the polymerase chain reaction.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been implicated in the development of cervical cancer. Newly developed molecular techniques have facilitated HPV identification and typing of cervical lesions. Several studies have suggested a strong correlation between HPV16 and intraepithelial cervical neoplasia. However, there is no agreement on this point since HPV16 is detected also in normal cervical tissue. We have amplified the L1 region of HPV16 DNA using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique and analyzed the HPV16 prevalence in cytological scrapes of 201 Italian sexually active patients. One hundred twenty-four of these women had normal cytologic and colposcopic examination, while seventy-seven women had normal or abnormal cytology and a cervical lesion detectable by colposcopy. Within this latter group, 25 of 77 women (32.4%) were positive for HPV16 DNA, compared to 11 of 124 samples (8.87%) from women with normal cytology and colposcopy. The present results confirm the high efficiency of the PCR technique in detecting HPV16 DNA from cervical scrapes and suggest that this analysis should become a method of choice in clinical studies.

Adult↗

Inosine-containing primers in human papillomavirus detection by polymerase chain reaction.

A PCR protocol has been developed using inosine-containing primers for human papilloma virus (HPV) detection. The HPV16 L1 region from CaSki-positive cells was efficiently amplified by a single reaction and directly analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis. The method was found to be sensitive and reproducible, and it easy to use for HPV typing and screening.

Base Sequence↗

[The activities of a pediatric emergency department. The emergency problems].

The authors reviewed records of admission at the Fist Ais-Emergency Service of "G. Gaslini" Children's Hospital, data referring both to in and outpatients. First of all we took into account epidemiological data analysing occurrence and types of diseases; at the same time a demographic study, which aimed to show a decrease in the child population in Genova, was performed. Secondly we compared these data with the real number of admitted patients: collected data showed that this service has been used excessively.

Age Factors↗