Biomedical subjects

M Zarrelli

Publications and source records attributed to M Zarrelli.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1992

CT of 338 active professional boxers.

Computed tomography (CT) was performed in 338 active professional boxers. CT scans were abnormal in 25 boxers (7%). The most common CT abnormality was brain atrophy (22 cases). Focal lesions of low attenuation consistent with posttraumatic encephalomalacia were noted in only three boxers. Boxers with abnormal CT scans did not differ from those with borderline or normal CT scans in regard to age, win-loss record, number of bouts, or history of an abnormal electroencephalogram. Thirty-seven boxers with borderline CT scans (49%) and 17 with abnormal CT scans (68%) reported a previous technical knockout (TKO) or knockout (KO), compared with only 89 (37%) of the 238 boxers with normal CT scans (P < .01). Brain atrophy was noted more frequently in boxers with a large cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) than in those with a small or no CSP (P < .05). Boxers with abnormal or borderline CT scans who experienced a TKO or KO were slightly older than those with normal CT scans and a history of a TKO or KO (P < .05).

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Antiepileptic drugs as 'tracers' of disease. A calculation of the prevalence of epilepsy through an analysis of drug consumption. The Group for the Study of Epilepsy in General Practice.

Antiepileptic drug (AED) consumption, expressed according to a standardized measurement of the average daily doses of each active principle (the defined daily dose, DDD), was assessed as a source of morbidity data to calculate the prevalence of AED takers. In a population of 51,220 from three areas in Italy (Arcisate, Treviglio, S. Giovanni Rotondo) all the patients treated with AEDs, traced by the local general practitioners, were examined by a neurologist. The diagnosis of epilepsy was confirmed in 199 of 223 AED takers, giving an overall prevalence rate of 3.94 per 1,000 (Arcisate 3.96; Treviglio 4.04; S. Giovanni Rotondo 3.89). There was a significant overlap between the observed and expected number of AED takers (the latter obtained from regional sales and expressed in DDD). Prevalence rates calculated from drug sales were 5.58 in Arcisate and 6.11 in Treviglio. The ratio of patients with epilepsy to AED takers in the two areas was 0.7 and corresponded to the mean proportion of AEDs prescribed for epilepsy in the years 1983-1988 by a sample of Italian physicians. Although the prevalence rate calculated from AED sales tends to approximate that of treated epilepsy, AEDs can be reasonably used as 'tracers' of disease for the easy access to drug sales in Italy, the appropriateness of the DDD as a standard measure of the daily doses of AED, the steady pattern of consumption, the comparability of data covering different areas and periods, and the stable proportion of drugs delivered for epilepsy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

Hypothyroidism and polyneuropathy.

The prevalence and characteristics of polyneuropathy were assessed using standard clinical and electrophysiological criteria in 39 consecutive outpatients with primary hypothyroidism, 15 of whom were previously untreated. Subjective complaints, mainly paraesthesiae, were recorded from 25 cases (64%) and objective findings supporting a clinical diagnosis of polyneuropathy were present in 13 (33%). Using standard electrophysiological criteria, a definite diagnosis of polyneuropathy was made in 28 cases (72%). The commonest sites of abnormal nerve conduction were the sensory nerves, especially the sural nerve. Polyneuropathy was generally mild. None of the clinical and biochemical indicators of hypothyroidism were significantly correlated with the electrophysiological signs of peripheral nerve impairment or the diagnosis of polyneuropathy.

Adolescent↗