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O Catalano

Publications and source records attributed to O Catalano.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Carotid intima-media thickening and in vivo LDL oxidation in patients with essential hypertension.

Low density lipoproteins (LDL) from hypertensive patients are more prone to in vitro oxidation and undergo a more pronounced oxidation in vivo. Due to the pro-atherogenic activity of oxidatively modified LDL, the correlation between the carotid intima-media thickening (IMT) and the markers of in vivo LDL oxidation was investigated in hypertensive patients. A cross-sectional study on 101 normocholesterolemic patients with newly diagnosed and untreated essential hypertension was performed. The occurrence of in vivo LDL oxidation was evaluated by measuring the titers of autoantibodies against Cu(2+)-oxidised LDL (oxLDL) and malondialdehyde-derivatised LDL (MDA-LDL). The extent and degree of atherosclerosis and the IMT were measured by means of carotid and femoral ultrasonography with a duplex scanner equipped with a high resolution probe. We did not find significant correlations between in vivo LDL oxidation parameters and the extent of atherosclerotic lesion in the entire group of hypertensive patients. However, a significant direct correlation was detected between the carotid IMT and the titer of autoantibodies against both oxLDL and MDA-LDL in hypertensive patients without advanced atherosclerotic plaques. The results obtained support the hypothesis that enhanced LDL oxidation may be one of the pathophysiological events related to the formation and progression of early atherosclerotic lesions (IMT) in carotid arteries of hypertensive patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

[Diagnostic imaging of diaphragmatic trauma].

PURPOSE: To assess the semiology, effectiveness and role of the modern diagnostic methods used to study diaphragmatic injuries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report our personal experience acquired in the last 4 years in 23 patients. Eighteen patients had blunt and 6 penetrating diaphragmatic trauma, 10 of them involving the right and 14 the left hemidiaphragm. Plain chest X-rays were performed in 19 cases, gastrointestinal (GI) barium studies in 2, US in 5 and CT in 21 cases. RESULTS: Plain chest films were normal in one case (5%), not specific in 6 (32%), suggestive in 7 (37%), and diagnostic in 5 (26%). Barium studies of the GI tract were diagnostic in both patients (100%). US was suggestive in one case (20%) and diagnostic in 4 (80%). CT was not specific in 4 cases (19%), suggestive in 8 (38%) and diagnostic in 9 (43%). CONCLUSIONS: Plain chest radiography remains the method of choice in the study of diaphragmatic injuries. US, in our still limited experience, seems to be the most accurate method in the direct demonstration of muscular traumas and should be performed more often in the study of diaphragmatic injuries. CT has poorer accuracy and, above all, shows only indirect signs, but it is fairly effective and plays a key role in the depiction of chest and abdominal traumas. Barium studies should be reserved, possibly, to the direct identification of digestive hernias, especially in the late phase.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

[Computerized tomography in the study of acute sigmoid diverticulosis].

PURPOSE: To report our experience in the study of acute left-sided colonic diverticulitis and to investigate the semiology and the possible diagnostic role of Computed Tomography (CT). MATERIAL AND METHODS: In the last 5 years, we examined with CT 52 patients with acute sigmoid diverticulitis. The examinations were performed with contiguous slices from the diaphragm to the perineum. An iodized contrast agent was administered orally in 32 cases and intravenously in 38. The diagnostic parameters we considered were: diverticula, pericolonic inflammation, thickening, intraparietal tracts, fistulas, pelvic phlegmons or abscesses, extrapelvic abscess or peritonitis, perforation, colonic obstruction, giant diverticula. Moreover, the cases were classified according to the system proposed by Neff in 5 stages. RESULTS: In order of frequency, the CT findings included: pericolonic inflammatory infiltration (96% of the cases), parietal thickening (90.5%), diverticula (88.5%), pericolonic and intrapelvic abscessual collections (38.5% each), pericolonic phlegmon and colonic performation (11.5% each), extramural fistula (9.5%), stenosis with colonic obstruction (6%), intramural tract and extrapelvic abscess (4% each), giant diverticulum (2%). As for the severity of the inflammatory involvement, 15% of the cases were included in stage 0, 29% in I, 42.5% in II, 13.5% in III, and none in IV. CONCLUSIONS: CT is an accurate diagnostic tool in the analysis of acute diverticulitis. Its main limitations are relative to the detection of early phases and the differentiation from carcinoma. CT should be performed to examine selected patients, with complicated diverticulitis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1996

[A computerized tomography sign of small bowel occlusion: the feces-like content].

PURPOSE: To assess the frequency, significance, and diagnostic role of a recently described CT sign of small bowel obstruction, the faces-like content of the enteric lumen (the small bowel feces sign). MATERIAL AND METHODS: 82 cases of small bowel obstruction, studied with CT in the last 5 years, were retrospectively reviewed to identify possible feces-like luminal content of the dilated loops above the obstruction. RESULTS: The feces sign was identified in 6 cases of small bowel obstruction (7.3%), always within ileal loops. In 5 of 6 cases there was a simple and progressive obstruction while in one there was a hyperacute onset with intestinal strangulation. CONCLUSION: In our experience this sign is relatively uncommon. It is due to the intraluminal pooling of enteric material and is generally present in subacute obstruction. The sign seems to be rather specific and may represent a useful accessory diagnostic element.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Computed tomography in the diagnostic approach to acute mesenteric ischemia].

Intestinal ischemia is an uncommon disorder, whose incidence is nevertheless increasing and whose mortality remains high. The major cause of its poor prognosis is represented by the diagnostic delay depending on the poor specificity and late onset of the various clinical, biohumoral and radiographic signs associated with bowel infarction. On the one hand, the aspecificity of clinico-humoral findings and on the other hand its invasiveness prevent a broad use of angiography and call for the introduction of noninvasive methods. In our experience on 17 cases, Computed Tomography (CT), exhibiting sensitivity and specificity fairly higher than conventional radiology, makes a valid diagnostic tool in the examination of acute abdomen patients in general and in vascular emergencies in particular. With CT, diagnostic accuracy is fairly increased in acute mesenteric insufficiency. CT allows this condition to be detected earlier than conventional radiology and permits the early recognition, in a larger number of cases, of the patients who will benefit most from a surgical or radiologic treatment.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1995

["Uncompensated" small bowel obstruction in adults. Ultrasonographic findings of free fluid between loops and its prognostic value].

Plain abdominal film is the method of choice in the assessment of intestinal obstruction. This technique exhibits some limitations and must be frequently correlated with other diagnostic tools. Of them, US has been recently reported to allow the morphofunctional study of intestinal loops with high accuracy. Nevertheless, the literature on the usefulness of US disregards a sign of great interest, i.e., extraluminal fluid between bowel loops. Our personal experience in 56 adult patients with surgically confirmed small bowel obstruction suggests that this findings, demonstrated by US in 43 patients (73%), identifies early intestinal wall damage with high sensitivity. US, depicting fluid between bowel loops, can distinguish the various stages of obstruction, with major consequences on clinical management. US and plain abdominal film findings allowed us to distinguish three stages of obstruction: simple obstruction (15/56 patients, 27%), uncompensated obstruction (26/56 patients, 46%), and complicated obstruction (15/56 patients, 27%). These three evolutive stages exhibit different severity and require different surgical approaches.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Endoanal ultrasonography, defecography, and enema of the colon in the radiologic study of incontinence].

In the last 3 years, the authors examined 564 patients with disturbed anorectal function. Of 41 incontinent subject in this series, 30 were retrospectively analyzed to assess the diagnostic contribution of double contrast barium enema, defecography and endoanal sonography. The authors propose a classification of fecal incontinence based on imaging findings: indeed, rectal incontinence can be distinguished from pelvic and sphincteral incontinence. Large bowel enema and defecography are the examinations of choice if rectal incontinence is suspected on the basis of clinical history and possible endoscopic, manometric and electromyographic findings. Defecography is suggested if pelvic incontinence is suspected, while anal endosonography is the exam of choice in case of suspected sphincteral incontinence. Especially thanks to the recent availability of the latter technique, today radiologists can directly visualize the anal sphincteral apparatus and its lesions, yielding objective evidence of this type of incontinence too. The authors report on both limitations and indications of each diagnostic method and conclude by stressing the fundamental role diagnostic imaging plays today in the study of this disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Diagnostic value of computerized tomography in acute appendicitis in adults].

The diagnosis of acute appendicitis is generally based on clinical and laboratory findings. In 1/3 of the cases, acute appendicitis presents atypically and, consequently, the contribution of the radiologist becomes necessary. Conventional radiologic methods, i.e. plain abdominal film and barium enema, generally yield aspecific and indirect information. In contrast, the modern methods of cross-sectional imaging, i.e. sonography and Computed Tomography (CT), allow to identify, directly and accurately, the inflammation of appendix and periappendiceal tissues. We report our experience with 25 cases of surgically confirmed adult acute appendicitis studied with abdominal CT examination. CT was usually performed with contiguous 5-mm-thick scans and with oral and intravenous contrast agent administration. CT showed abnormal appendix (72% of cases), pericecal or periappendiceal inflammatory infiltration (68%), phlegmon (20%), appendicoliths (16%), abscess (12%). CT was diagnostic for appendicitis in 21 cases (84%) and suggestive of it in 4 cases (16%). CT is an interesting diagnostic alternative to US in the assessment of clinically questionable cases of appendicitis. Furthermore, it is the method of choice in the analysis of complicated appendicitis and in the percutaneous management of periappendiceal abscesses.

Acute Disease↗