Biomedical subjects

Maria Fornal

Publications and source records attributed to Maria Fornal.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Erythrocyte stiffness probed using atomic force microscope.

The stiffness of erythrocytes in patients (N=45) suffering from certain disorders, such as coronary disease, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus has been assessed using the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and compared with that in a group of healthy individuals (N=13). For each blood sample, around 20 erythrocytes were selected at random and the stiffness of each one was probed in 20-30 arbitrarily chosen points. From these results, distributions of the cell Young's modulus (YM) were determined. Average values and widths of YM distributions significantly increased in samples taken from diabetes mellitus patients and cigarette smokers, as compared to those taken from healthy donors. At the same time, the average values of YM were found to increase as a function of the patient's age. We demonstrated that the atomic force microscope is a very sensitive tool for determination of cell stiffness with every prospect of a routine application as a diagnostic tool in quantitative analysis of the physiological and pathological states of red blood cells.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

[Angiosarcoma (hemangiosarcoma) cordis].

The case of a young 32 year old male with a primary cardiac angiosarcoma is reported. The neoplasm manifested itself by a quickly increasing cardiac tamponade but without metastases. The nonradical resection of the tumor was made because of local invasion with tumor tissue. The patient was followed-up for 3 years after the surgery and no recurrence of the malignant process was observed. Cardiac angiosarcoma is a very rare malignant tumor of soft tissues. In spite of significant progress in clinical treatment, for a patient diagnosed antemortem with cardiac angiosarcoma, the long-term expectations are usually very poor. Commonly known risk factors for this group of neoplasms (haemangioma of skin, chroniclymphedema, chronic post-tuberculosis pleurisy, X-ray, thorium dioxide) cannot be easily associated with the primary cardiac angiosarcoma cases. The search for chromosomal anomalies and gene mutations leading to cardiac angiosarcoma is ongoing. There is hope that recently obtained evidence for mutation of the p53gen, will provide a better understanding of this heart neoplasia.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

[Epidemiological analysis of leukemia survival in Cracow for cases registered in 1980-1990].

The aim of the study was epidemiological analysis of survival from all types of leukemia occurring in Cracow in the years 1980-1990. The study was focused on survival times in patients according to a) cytologico-clinical type of leukemia, b) timeframe in which treatment was initiated (between 1980-1985 and 1986-1090). All patients diagnosed of leukemia between the years 1980-1990, living in Cracow and whose cytologico-clinical picture was determined had their survival times and censored survival times established. Survival until 1997 was taken into account. For each cytologico-clinical type of leukemia survival function according to Kaplan-Meier was calculated. The Cox model was implemented to analyze the risk of death depending on the period in which the disease appeared--two time frames were established 1980-1985 and 1986-1990. Other parameters considered were; age, sex and area in which the patient lived (suburb). Practically in all types of leukemia a higher probability of survival was found in patients in whom leukemia was diagnosed (and consequently treated) in the second period i.e., 1986-1990. The highest achievement was observed in acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children, in which the relative 5-year survival probability rose from 35% in the years 1980-1985 to 78% in the years 1986-1990, thus achieving the level of well developed countries. A similar picture was seen in chronic lymphocytic leukemia where the relative 5 year survival probability rose from 57% to 77%, and in chronic granulocytic leukemia where the 5 year survival probabilities were accordingly 23% and 39%. All cited values for the second period of analysis are at the levels noted in the United States and in Europe. The positive changes in the survival times observed in patients with leukemia seen in the second half of the 80-ies (in comparison to the period 1980-1985) has been interpreted as the result of advancements in therapy of the disease in Cracow.

Adolescent↗