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N Rossi

Publications and source records attributed to N Rossi.

81 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
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New triplet chemotherapy combination with carboplatin, paclitaxel and gemcitabine plus amifostine support in advanced non small cell lung cancer: a phase II study.

New triplet chemotherapy combinations are under investigation in advanced non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Carboplatin, plus paclitaxel, plus gemcitabine is among the most active and promising regimens. The use of more aggressive chemotherapy in order to improve results can increase toxicity. Amifostine (WR-2721) reduces toxicity of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and protects selectively a number of normal, but not neoplastic, tissue. Based on this background, we performed a phase II study on carboplatin, plus paclitaxel, plus gemcitabine with amifostine support in advanced NSCLC. Patients received chemotherapy at the following dosage: carboplatin AUC 5, i.v., at day 1; paclitaxel 175 mg/m2, i.v. by 3-hour infusion, at day 1; gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2, i.v. by 3-hour infusion, at days 1 and 8; every 3 weeks for a maximum of 6 cycles. Amifostine was administered at the dose of 740 mg/m2, i.v., at day 1 of each cycle. Seventeen patients entered the study. They were prevalently male, median age was 62 years, PS (ECOG) was 0 in 10 cases (58.8%), 1 in 6 (35.3%) and 2 in 1 (5.9%). Histology was epidermoid in 8 cases (47%) and adenocarcinoma in 9 (53%). We observed 8 (47.5%) objective responses with 2 (11.7%) complete responses. Median time to progression and median survival were 24 and 36 weeks, respectively. Treatment was well tolerated. The main toxicity was as follows: grade 3 neutropenia, grade 2 thrombocytopenia and grade 3 anemia in one (5.8%) case; grade 2 peripheral neurologic toxicity in 3 (17.6%) patients; grade 2 cardiac toxicity (atrial fibrillation) in one case; and grade 3 respiratory toxicity (dispnoea) in one patient. These data indicate that this combination has promising activity and tolerability. A randomized trial comparing carboplatin plus paclitaxel, plus gemcitabine versus carboplatin, plus paclitaxel, plus gemcitabine, plus amifostine in advanced NSCLC is warranted.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Lack of correlation between clinical patterns of asthma and airway obstruction.

To evaluate the relationship between the classification of asthma and obstruction of airways, we have studied 100 children suffering from allergic asthma: 65 males and 35 females, aged 4.2-16.3 years (mean, 7.6 +/- 2.8 years), who were evaluated at least 1 month after the last attack of airway obstruction. We analyzed personal history of all children with special reference to number of attacks of airway obstruction in the last year, severity, and presence of respiratory symptoms in the last month. The children studied have been classified in three groups according to the International Pediatric Respiratory Allergy Forum (IPRAF) '98 method (Third International Pediatric Consensus Statement on the management of childhood asthma). All children underwent the assessment of their respiratory function by means of analysis of the flow/volume loops with measurement of the obstruction indices (forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], peak expiratory flow [PEF], and maximal midexpiratory flow [MMEF]). The efficacy of the aforementioned method has been evaluated by analyzing the number of the subjects who showed indices of airway obstruction not in agreement with the group assigned. Eighty-five of the children studied were diagnosed with infrequent episodic asthma (IEA), 14 children were diagnosed with frequent episodic asthma (FEA), and 1 child was diagnosed with persistent asthma (PA). Thirty-six of 100 children showed obstruction indices not in agreement with the asthma group: in particular, 24 of 85 children with IEA had FEV1 < 80%, 11 children with FEA had FEV1 > 80%, and 1 child with PA had FEV1 > 80%. The high percentage of discordance between clinical classification and obstruction index in the subjects with IEA can be caused by the persistence of abnormalities of the respiratory function without clinical symptoms. The presence of a normal obstruction index in the subjects with FEA can be explained by the pharmacologic therapies. These data suggest the usefulness of a careful evaluation of the respiratory function associated with a clinical assessment to carry out a more appropriate therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Immunodiagnosis of neurocysticercosis: comparative study of antigenic extracts from Cysticercus cellulosae and Taenia crassiceps].

Different antigenic extracts of Taenia solium and Taenia crassiceps were evaluated in connection with the detection of antibodies in patients with neurocysticercosis aimed at selecting immunorelevant antigens for the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis by means of the immunoenzymatic assay and immunoblotting. The vesicular fluid of T. crassiceps proved to be more sensitive (100%) and specific (86%). On using the immunoblotting technique it was also observed that this extract was the most sensitive and specific. Within the protein profile of the antigen the band of 18 kDa was mostly recognized by the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with neurocysticercosis. The vesicular fluid of T. crassiceps represents an alternative in the optimization of the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid and in the substitution of T. solium antigens due to its high sensitivity and specificity and to its easy obtention under controlled laboratory conditions.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A new ultrathin-walled, non-kinking, low-resistance endotracheal tube for neonatal use: preliminary studies of a new no-pressure cuff.

Using a new technology, the authors fabricated a series of ultrathin-walled, non-kinking, wire-reinforced polyurethane endotracheal (ET) tubes for use in the newborn, with a wall thickness of 0.2 mm from the smallest to the largest ET tubes (one-stage tubes), as well as two-stage ET tubes, with the tracheal section of smaller diameter than the oropharyngeal section. The wire reinforcement consisted of 0.1-mm x 0.5-mm stainless steel 304 flat wire; to impart crush-proof features, some ET tubes were reinforced with Nitinol (nickel-titanium shape-memory alloy) wire. Circular layers of highly pliable polyurethane film ("gills"), 0.025 mm thick, in series, were then incorporated onto the distal sections of the ET tubes to reduce potential air leakage (no-pressure cuff). In-vitro pressure-flow measurements showed a sixfold-to-ninefold decrease in airflow resistance for the two-stage ET tubes, compared with standard tubes. For example, a two-stage ET tube of the new design with the outside diameter of a standard 2.5-mm ET tube has the airflow resistance of a hypothetical conventional 4.2-mm ET tube, while a straight ET tube with a similar thin wall and the same outside diameter throughout (one-stage ET tube) has the resistance of an imputed 3.2-mm standard ET tube, or a twofold-to-threefold decrease in air flow resistance. When tested in a 4-kg rabbit, the air leak of the 2.5-mm two-stage ET tube with "gills" and the outside diameter of a standard 2.5-mm ET tube was much less than that of a standard 2.5-mm ET tube, and was similar to the air leak found with a 4.0-mm ET tube of conventional design (without cuff). The authors conclude that the new ET tubes have a greatly reduced air flow resistance compared with conventional ET tubes; they provide enhanced sealing from possible air leaks; they are non-kinking and crush-resistant; and they are crush-proof when used with Nitinol wire reinforcement.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Solitary cyst of the liver].

The rareness of the illness and the infrequency of infectious complications have led the authors to report a case which has come to their attention. After a brief exam of the etiopathogenesis and pathologic anatomy of these hepatic forms of cyst and the following considerations on their clinical aspects, which range from complete lack of symptoms to the compression of nearby organs (gall ducts, stomach, kidney) due to an increase in their volume, to occurrence of complications (rupture, haemorrhage, suppuration), the authors evaluate the therapeutic problem. Emptying and internal drainage being nowadays discarded and everyone agree on the necessity of excising the whole cystic wall with the minimum loss of hepatic parenchyma, the most indicated operation is total cystectomy. As such an operation is not always feasible because of the adherences of the cyst to the hepatic parenchyma; partial cystectomy can be practiced, leaving in situ part of the cystic wall. If the cyst is complicated by rupture, haemorrhage or suppuration, typical or atypical hepatic resection is recommended. The reported case concerns a patient in good general conditions, bearer of a large left hepatic lobe cyst, complicated by suppuration, with normal liver function, who has been submitted to ablation of the third hepatic segment according to the Ton That Tung transparenchymal technique. Finally the authors point out the possibility of a new conservative therapeutic approach, practiced in a few centres, consisting in echo or CT guided percutaneous needle suction and sclerosis of the cyst with 95% pure alcohol.

Aged↗