In spite of the many anthropometric, biohumoral, and immunologic parameters employed in the nutritional assessment of hospitalized patients, it is difficult in clinical practice to evaluate accurately the degree and type of malnutrition and to assess the prognostic significance of this determination. The purpose of this study is to evaluate nutritional status of surgical patients by means of cluster analysis in orderr to identify different nutritional patterns and to evaluate their clinical and prognostic significance. Nutritional assessment of 71 surgical patients was carried out at admission, and the sets of data were evaluated by means of cluster analysis. Four clusters with different nutritional patterns were identified. The incidence of clinical variables (type of disease, postoperative sepsis, palliative procedures, mortality at 6 months, etc.) in each cluster was determined in order to evaluate their clinical and prognostic significance. Cluster 1 showed minor variations of the indicators, including most of the controls presented the lowest incidence of sepsis, palliative procedures, and mortality at 6 months. It was then considered as a reference group representative of the normal nutritional condition at our institution. The other three clusters showed major variations of nutritional indicators and represent poorer risk clinical conditions. Sepsis, palliative procedures and mortality rate were significantly more frequent in these clusters (p less than 0.05, p less than 0.001, p less than 0.05). A different distribution in the clusters was recorded in gastrointestinal tract cancers and other neoplasms. Only the incidence of gastrointestinal tract cancers increases progressively in the clusters with poorer prognosis, suggesting that this type of neoplasia is more frequently associated with major changes of nutritional status.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Enzyme and immunohistochemistry of follicular hyperplasia in AIDS-related lymphadenopathy.

We used a panel of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to analyze frozen and paraffin-embedded lymph node biopsy specimens from 25 intravenous drug abusers (IVDA) with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related lymphadenopathy histologically characterized by follicular hyperplasia. Our aim was to obtain diagnostic clues to this commonly occurring pattern. Double-labelling immunohistological studies were also performed on selected frozen sections and 13 plastic-embedded specimens were tested by a number of enzyme reactions. Consistent features in IVDA included abnormally high numbers of intrafollicular T-cells, positive for acid phosphatase and beta-glucuronidase, most of which had Leu-2a-positive phenotype; a marked reduction or loss of mantle zone B-cells (positive for surface IgD-IgM and alkaline phosphatase); and disarray of the network of follicular dendritic reticulum cells (DRCs), as revealed with DRC-1 and anti-S-100 protein antibodies or with reaction for 5'-nucleotidase. When present, distinctive intrafollicular clusters of Leu-2a-positive T-cells and mantle zone B-cells were nearly always associated with areas lacking DRCs in some patients. The intrafollicular hypervascularity invariably found in IVDA proved to be of a true capillary nature, as demonstrated by alkaline phosphatase, 5'-nucleotidase, and ATPase reactions. In control tissues, all showing absence of Leu-2a-positive intrafollicular T-cells, most of the above individual changes could be detected, although they were occasional, mild, and never associated within the same follicle. By contrast, combined immunohistological and enzyme histochemical findings in IVDA indicated that in most follicles such changes were marked and very often associated within the same follicle in each case.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

AIDS-Related Complex↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Methods of simultaneous visualization of cytoplasmic enzyme reactivity and cell surface antigens (by cytochemistry combined with immunocytochemistry) in individual hematopoietic and lymphoid cells.

Enzyme cytochemistry alone, and more recently, immunocytohistochemistry have been satisfactorily used by hematologists and hematopathologists for the study, diagnosis and classification of human hematological and lymphoproliferative disorders. To enhance the potential of these techniques, the possibility of combining immunocytohistochemical techniques with enzyme cytohistochemistry with simultaneous visualization of both reaction products has been examined by some investigators. This approach has been applied to normal, reactive and neoplastic material using mainly cell suspensions and frozen sections, with the aim of improving cell identification in specimens containing different cell types, of determining the cytochemical profiles of well-defined lymphocyte subpopulations and of establishing the cell surface phenotypes of cells that are positive for certain enzymes. In this paper, published reports on this subject are reviewed and compared with the experience of our study group.

B-Lymphocytes↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Clinical experience with the Infrared Coagulator in the treatment of benign lesions of the oral cavity].

The clinical efficacy of a new medico-surgical device was tested in the treatment of benign lesions of the oral cavity. The Infrared Coagulator was proved to be useful both in terms of reduced bleeding during operations and due to the satisfactory long-term healing of the wound.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗