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Biomedical subjects

R Moretti

Publications and source records attributed to R Moretti.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The relationship between wrist-monitored motor activity and serum CPK activity in psychiatric in-patients.

Motor activity, monitored by a wrist motion transducer, was related to serum CPK activity the following morning in a group of psychiatric in-patients. In 4 of 10 patients, studied for periods exceeding one week, total 24-hour activity was significantly correlated with morning serum CPK activity. Motor activity during the night was unrelated to serum CPK activity. In a larger group of 30 patients, studied for one or two-day periods, inter-individual differences in activity level were not related to serum CPK activity, although both sex and race were significantly related to variance between subjects in that activity.

Creatine Kinase

Goretex patch aortoplasty for coarctation in children: nuclear magnetic resonance assessment at 7 years.

From 1979 to 1990, 56 children ranging between 4 days and 16 years of age (mean 73 +/- 51 months) underwent Goretex patch aortoplasty for coarctation of the aorta. The mean weight at operation was 20.2 +/- 3.5 kg (range 3.3-42 kg). Forty-two patients had primary repair, and the remaining 14 had reoperation for recoarctation. The aorta was opened through a standard left thoracotomy, the posterior fibrous ridge was partially excised when it was prominent, and a large patch from a Goretex tube was sutured into place. The postoperative complications were as follows: paradoxical hypertension in 14 cases, massive haemorrhage due to aortic wall rupture in a diabetic child, and intestinal bleeding in 1 case. There were no early deaths and only 1 case of late death, which was not related to coarctation repair (mortality rate 1.8%). The average follow-up was 48 +/- 26 months. Continuous wave-Doppler examination at rest showed no arm-leg systolic gradient in 52 cases and a gradient of about 15 mmHg in 4 cases. Graded exercise testing showed only 1 case with an arm-leg gradient higher than 35 mmHg. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging, performed on 26 patients at a mean of 7 years from operation, showed excellent morphology and size of the aortoplasty. No cases of recoarctation or late aneurysm formation were found. We conclude that Goretex patch aortoplasty can be performed effectively and safely in children. Nuclear magnetic resonance provides high resolution imaging of the coarctation repair site.

Adolescent

Vascular rings and slings. Diagnosis and surgical treatment of 49 patients.

Forty-nine infants with symptomatic vascular rings and slings, ranging in age from 20 days to 12 months, required surgical intervention between 1973 and 1984. The following anomalies were present in our patients: double aortic arch with left descending aorta (14), double aortic arch with right descending aorta (6), anomalous innominate artery (13), right aortic arch with aberrant left subclavian artery (4), left aortic arch with aberrant right subclavian artery (10), aberrant left pulmonary artery (pulmonary sling) (2). All the babies had symptoms related to compression of the trachea and/or esophagus. Four patients required temporary tracheostomy in the early postoperative period; 1 patient, affected by a pulmonary sling, required tracheal resection and anastomosis, for severe tracheomalacia. There was one hospital death in a patient with severe tracheal compression from an anomalous innominate artery and brain damage as a result of metabolic problems. Forty-eight patients survived and follow-up ranged from 3 months to 11 years. For each type of vascular anomaly encountered, and based on personal experience, we have outlined a diagnostic scheme allowing an accurate morphological definition and a subsequent surgical procedure.

Aorta, Thoracic

[Doppler spectrum analysis and traditional angiography in the study of the extracranial tract of the internal carotid artery].

Examination of 88 extracranial carotid arteries using CW Doppler spectrum analysis is compared with the findings of transfemoral conventional arteriography. There is no significant difference (P greater than 0.05) between CWD and angiographic results, although sensitivity, specificity and accuracy are superior for the latter technique. CWD spectrum analysis can underestimate complete occlusion and misinterpret the degree of stenosis, however it is a cheap and rapid procedure that can be used to judge whether particular symptoms are due to identifiable disease and whether selective carotid arteriography is advisable.

Carotid Artery Diseases