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Biomedical subjects

M Casali

Publications and source records attributed to M Casali.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Enzymatic glycosylation using 6-O-acylated sugar donors and acceptors: beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase-catalysed synthesis of 6-O,N,N'-triacetylchitobiose and 6'-O,N,N'-triacetylchitobiose.

p-Nitrophenyl 6-O-acetyl-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranoside (5a) was used as the glycosyl donor in a beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase-catalysed (from Penicillium brasilianum) glycosylation of GlcNAc yielding 6'-O,N,N'-triacetylchitobiose (6), while 6-O-acetyl-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranose (3a) served as a selectively protected acceptor in a transglycosylation reaction catalysed by the same enzyme to yield 6-O,N,N'-triacetylchitobiose (4).

Aspergillus oryzae↗
PubMed2001

Performances of new sugar-bearing poly(acrylamide) copolymers as DNA sieving matrices and capillary coatings for electrophoresis.

We have synthesized two new sugar monomers, allylamine of gluconic and lactobionic acid, by opening the corresponding lactone ring with allylamine. These monomers were copolymerized with acrylamide leading to formation of copolymers with a relative molecular mass of 288000 and 180000 Da, respectively. Double-stranded DNA fragments were separated in entangled solutions of these linear polymers in capillary electrophoresis. Resolution, peak spacing and peak width were the parameters taken into account to evaluate the quality of the separation achieved with the new polymers. This work indicates that the copolymers of acrylamide and allyl gluconic acid have a high sieving capacity and provide a performance similar to that of hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) of comparable viscosity. Unlike HEC, this copolymer selfcoats onto the capillary wall, allowing DNA fragments to be efficiently separated in an uncoated capillary.

Acrylamides↗
PubMed2001

Gemcitabine in pre-treated advanced renal carcinoma: a feasibility study.

Eigtheen patients affected by metastatic renal cell carcinoma, 16 which were assesable, were treated with 1 g/m2 of Gemcitabine (GCB) on days 1, 8 and 15 of a 28-day treatment cycle up to a maximun of ten cycles. All patients in neoplastic progression were treated with chemo- and immunotherapy (5 FU, IL-2, IFN alpha d 13-cis-retinoic acid.) Out of the 16 assessable patients, 5/16 (31%) showed overall response (ICR, 4 PR), 5 (31%) stable disease (SD) and 6 (38%) progression of disease (PD). Toxicity was limited to WHO grades I only, primarily hematological.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Letrozole for the treatment of pretreated advanced breast cancer patients: preliminary report.

Twenty patients (pts) with metastatic breast cancer with disease progression, previously treated with chemotherapy and tamoxifen, were administered oral letrozole (2.5 mg/day) therapy. Fifteen of the patients were postmenopausal and 5 were premenopausal. Ten were estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, 7 were unknown and 3 were ER-negative. All the patients were assessed after 6 months (mo) of chemotherapy. Nine pts (45%) presented a partial response (PR), five (25%) had a stable disease (SD) and six (30%) had a progressive disease (PD). In the pts with PD, six out of 15 (33%) obtained a PR while undergoing tamoxifen therapy. The treatment caused no significant toxicity.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1999

Spatial positioning of an hip stem solid model within the CT data set of the host bone.

A new protocol is proposed which allows the spatial registration of a prosthetic hip stem solid model with the CT data set of the host bone collected pre-operatively using a limited number of reference landmarks taken from post-operative images. Although based on well know algorithms, such as the Single Value Decomposition, this method opens new possibilities to the three-dimensional modelling of operated bones. In a preliminary experiment based on a synthetic human femur replica the proposed protocol achieved a global accuracy of 1.53 mm (root mean square error of the centre location of ten control sections) using only six CT post-operative slices. This methodology allows an accurate three-dimensional modelling of operated bone which have been implanted with high density metallic devices which produce relevant artefacts in post-operative CT images.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1998

13-cis retinoic acid and interferon alfa-2a in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Eleven patients, pre-treated with chemotherapy and immunotherapy, with renal cell carcinoma were given 13-cis-retinoic acid (CRA) in association with interferon alfa-2a (IFN 2a). 13-ci retinoic acid was administered at the dose of 1 mg/Kg/die while interferon alfa-2a at the dose of 3X10 U.I./die s.c. All patients had been previously treated with chemotherapy in association with immunotherapy. Therapy was not discontinued until neoplastic progression occurred. Clinical results were as follows: partial responses (PR) were observed in two patients, disease stabilization (SD) in 5 and progression (PD), with 8-month median treatment duration, in 4. Side effects were mild.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Types, stability, and phenotypic consequences of chromosome rearrangements leading to interstitial telomeric sequences.

Using in situ hybridisation, we identified interstitial telomeric sequences in seven chromosomal translocations present in normal and in syndromic subjects. Telomeric sequences were also found at the centromeric ends of a 4p and a 4q caused by centric fission of one chromosome 4. We found that rearrangements leading to interstitial telomeric sequences were of three types: (1) termino-terminal rearrangements with fusion of the telomeres of two chromosomes, of which we report one case; (2) rearrangements in which an acentric fragment of one chromosome fuses to the telomere of another chromosome. We describe four cases of Prader-Willi syndrome with the 15q1-qter transposed to the telomeric repeats of different recipient chromosomes; (3) telomere-centromere rearrangements in which telomeric sequences of one chromosome fuse with the centromere of another chromosome. We describe two examples of these rearrangements in which not only telomeric sequences but also remnants of alphoid sequences were found at the fusion point. Instability at the fusion point of the derivative chromosome was found in the Prader-Willi translocations but we were unable to correlate this instability with culture conditions. The two subjects with the termino-terminal rearrangement and the centric fission respectively have normal phenotypes. The two patients with telomere-centromere fusions were unbalanced for the short arm of an acrocentric chromosome and had failure to thrive; one of them also had dysmorphic facies. We postulate that these phenotypes could be the result of uniparental disomy.

Chromosome Aberrations↗
PubMed1992

Graft-versus-leukemia effects after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation are active also in the presence of clones with chromosomal anomalies in addition to the Ph chromosome.

Two male patients with Philadelphia-chromosome (Ph+) chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) in the first chronic phase after busulfan treatment. In both cases, the donor was a sister, and engrafting was demonstrated by chromosome analyses which showed only donor cells in the BM. Cytogenetic relapse occurred 29 and 30 months after ABMT, respectively, when host cells reappeared: in both cases, the Ph and additional anomalies typical of the blastic phase of CML were evident. We then monitored the chromosome picture for 52 and 39 months, respectively: no striking evolution occurred, and cells with the Ph and additional anomalies persisted together with donor cells, which were a minority in the first patient and a great majority in the second throughout the observation period. A clinical relapse was observed in the first patient, but the disease never progressed to a blastic phase, whereas the second patient has not relapsed 7 years after ABMT. We reviewed data from the literature on cytogenetic relapse after ABMT in CML without clinical relapse, especially the 12 patients in whom cytogenetic relapse included chromosome anomalies in addition to the Ph, as in our patients. We suggest that graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) reactions in such patients are able to arrest progression of the leukemic blastic clone and prevent a possible relapse in blastic phase.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The treatment of splenic injuries from splenectomy to non-operative management: our experience on 429 cases].

BACKGROUND: From the first successful splenectomy performed in 1893 the trend, in the management of splenic injuries has been increasingly toward avoiding splenectomy in favor of splenic preservation, either operatively or nonoperatively. The aim of this study is to evaluate our experience in the management of splenic injuries. METHOD: 429 Patients who suffered splenic injuries from 1989 to 2001, were examinated retrospectively. RESULTS: 120 Patients were treated non operatively; 270 were treated with splenectomy and 39 with operative preservation. The mortality rate was 6.8% but no Patient treated nonoperatively or with surgical preservation died. CONCLUSION: The splenic preservation either operatively or nonoperatively is the treatment of choice of splenic injuries in all Patients irrespective of the grade of injury or the age of the Patient.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The "damage control" in severe hepatic injuries: our experience].

PURPOSE: To evaluate our 12-year experience in the treatment of complex hepatic injuries with periepatic packing and damage control priciples. METHOD: A retrospective review was conducted of 21 Patients with grade IV-V injuries of the liver and severe haemorrage induced hypothermia and acidosis admitted to the Ospedale Maggiore Trauma Center in Bologna from 1989 to 2001 RESULTS: All the Patients had major blunt trauma. Mean age was 39.6; mean ISS 41.5; mean RTS 4.13; extimated loss of blood was greater than 5300 ml. Packing provide definitive control of bleeding in 16 Patients but 10 had recurrent bleeding or bleeding from different injuries such as bone fractures and required further surgery or arterial embolization. 12 Patients died (57.2%). Survival was strongly associated with the ISS, GCS, the loss of blood and acidosis. CONCLUSION: The authors concluded that in selected circumstances the traditional approach to hepatic injuries is not appropiate. In this situation, alternative and aggressive treatment--damage control--has been recommended as the procedure of choice.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Trauma and emergency surgery. Organization and surgeons experience].

BACKGROUND: To evaluate if combining operative treatment of patients with trauma and general surgery emergencies offers a good operative experience and can be a model for a Trauma Center organization, we compare our surgical experience with that of our general surgeons. METHODS: We reviewed records to determine number of operation, need of intensive care unit care for patients treated, the after hours practice by the trauma and emergency surgeons and general surgeons over a 1-year period at Ospedale Maggiore of Bologna. RESULTS: Emergency and trauma surgeons performed more operations per surgeons (133.7 vs 102.6) and managed more patients in intensive care unit than general surgeons. 51.8% of emergency and trauma operations were after hours. CONCLUSION: The care of trauma and emergency patients resulted in a breadth and scope of practice for trauma and emergency surgeons compared well with that of general surgeons but in a worse lifestyle.

Emergencies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Emergency surgery in elderly: experience gained in 198 cases over 80].

PURPOSE: To evaluate our 2-year experience in the emergency surgical treatment of elderly people (aged > or = 80). METHOD: A retrospective review was conducted of 198 elderly patients admitted to Emergency Surgery Unit of the Ospedale Maggiore in Bologna from 01.07.2001 to 30.06.2003. RESULTS: All the Patients were submitted to emergency operations. Mean age was 84.8 (range 80-96); Female were 152, male 73. Preexisting condition, ASA scores and surgical procedures were recorded. The postoperative mortality was 17.1%. The mean length of stay in our Unit was 9.7 days; 93 patients needed rehabilitation facility at discharge. CONCLUSION: The Authors concluded that emergency surgery entails a high risk to the patients, high cost in hospital resources and rehabilitation facility.

Age Factors↗