PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Zecchin

Publications and source records attributed to R Zecchin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

The influence of body size, smoking, and diet on bone density in pre- and postmenopausal women.

We studied the determinants of low bone mineral density, using data from a population-based screening program of osteoporosis carried out among 1,373 women (age 40-64 years) in the province of Pordenone, Italy, by means of dual photon absorptiometry of the lumbar spine. Menopause had a major effect on bone mineral density. Age had little influence before menopause. In multivariate linear regression analyses, weight was the strongest predictor of bone mineral density in pre- as well as postmenopausal women. After the inclusion in a single model of a term for current weight, weight at ages 12 and 30 years explained some additional variance, whereas high waist-to-hip ratio (an indicator of central adiposity) had no influence. Smoking 15 or more cigarettes per day entailed a small increased risk of osteoporosis, but this effect, independent of weight, appeared to be restricted to premenopausal women. No food or micronutrient that we examined was predictive of bone mineral density, nor was coffee or alcoholic beverage intake.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1996

Menopause, menstrual and reproductive history, and bone density in northern Italy.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To analyse the relationship between menstrual and reproductive factors and the risk of low bone mineral density (BMD). DESIGN: This was a population based screening programme carried out between 1991 and 1993 among 1373 perimenopausal women in northern Italy by means of dual photon absorptiometry at the lumbar spine. MAIN RESULTS: BMD was strongly related to the age at menopause. In comparison with women reporting menopause below 45 years of age, the odds ratios (OR) of being in the lowest compared with the highest BMD tertile were 0.7 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.3,1.5) and 0.3 (95% CI 0.1,0.8), respectively, in those with menopause at age 45-49 and above 50 years: the trend in risk was significant. Likewise, the risk of being in the lowest tertile increased with years since the menopause. Compared with women who reported they had undergone the menopause less than two years before interview, the OR of being in the lowest BMD tertile were 2.1 (95% CI 1.1,4.3), 2.3 (95% CI 1.1, 5.0), and 5.7 (95% CI 2.5,12.9) respectively in women who reported menopause 2-5, 6-9, and > or = 10 years earlier. The protective effect on bone density of late age at menopause was observed in different strata of years since menopause. Likewise, the increasing risk of a low BMD with increasing years since the menopause was evident in strata of different age at menopause. No relationships were observed between BMD and the age at menarche, characteristics of menstrual cycles, and the duration of menses. Likewise, no association emerged between reproductive history, including parity and age at first pregnancy, and BMD. CONCLUSIONS: In this Italian population the risk of being in the lowest BMD tertile decreased with increasing age at menopause and increased with years since menopause. No relationships emerged between BMD and other menstrual characteristics or reproductive factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Usefulness of immunoscintigraphy in the follow-up of surgically treated gastrointestinal carcinomas using 111In-labelled anti-CEA monoclonal antibodies.

Twenty-five patients treated surgically for gastrointestinal carcinomas (16 rectum-sigmoid colon, 6 colon, 3 stomach) were investigated by immunoscintigraphy (IS) using 111In-labelled anti-CEA antibody (mouse monoclonal F023C5) F(ab')2 fragments in order to visualize questionable abdominopelvic recurrences (excluding the liver). Fifteen (60%) patients showed a rise in serum CEA levels above 5 ng/ml. Planar scans and emission computed tomographic (ECT) imaging were carried out without reference to the results of computed tomographic (CT) scans and gastrointestinal endoscopic examinations done 1-2 weeks before IS. Final diagnoses were based on biopsies and autopsies (13 cases) or on follow-up findings over at least 2 years (12 cases). Sixteen patients had a final diagnosis of recurrent malignant disease in the extrahepatic abdomen or pelvis. Of these, six were correctly diagnosed by both IS and conventional diagnostic procedures, six by IS only and two by conventional methods only. Two tumour recurrences remained undetected by both diagnostic approaches. However, five tumour recurrences were detected by IS more than 4 months earlier than by any other diagnostic procedures performed during clinical follow-up. Of the nine disease-free patients (disregarding the liver) three were correctly identified by both IS and the other diagnostic methods, four by IS only and two by conventional diagnostic procedures only. Overall sensitivity (75%) and specificity (89%) of 111In-IS were higher than figures obtained using CT scanning and endoscopy (50% and 78% respectively). True positive IS was observed in 6/15 (40%) CEA seropositive patients and in 6/10 (60%) CEA seronegative patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1982

[Diagnostic value of echography in the study of thyroid nodules. Ultrasonographic and histological findings on 103 "cold" nodules].

This study examines the accuracy of ultrasonic scanning in the recognition of malignancy in 103 "cold" thyroid nodules. All nodules underwent to surgical ablation and to histopathological examination. 10 nodules were cistic, 72 solid and 21 mixed cistic-solid on echography. None of the cistic nodules showed malignant disease while six carcinomas were present in solid nodules and one (a papillary cancer) in a mixed cistic-solid lesion. However we were unable to find echographic abnormalities pathognomonic for malignancy. Only in one case (an undifferentiated carcinoma which involved adjacent blood vessels) the diagnosis of malignant tumour was made before operation; in the other cases the echo patterns of the carcinomatous nodules were similar to those observed in benign nodules. Similar ultrasonic findings were also seen in the various types of thyroid cancer (3 follicular, 2 papillary, 1 medullary, 1 undifferentiated) a part the papillary carcinoma which appeared as cistic-solid lesion. Our data seem to limit the diagnostic value of echography in the detection of malignant thyroid nodules, nevertheless they confirm the benignancy of echografically cistic nodules.

Adenoma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Angioscintigraphy in the study of cerebrovascular accidents (author's transl)].

The Authors analyse the results of cerebral angioscintigraphy, performed with gamma camera on-line with a MED II system, in 158 cases of ischemic stroke, 13 cases of hemorragic stroke and 29 cases of cerebral neoplasm. 84 cases of ischemic stroke and all the cases of hemorragic stroke and neoplasm had contrast angiography. The dynamic study has provided additional information in 51.3% of the cases of ischemic stroke (63.7% when the internal carotid artery involvement alone is considered), in 84.6% of the cases of hemorragic stroke and in 58.6% of the neoplasm cases. The same information moreover is almost always able to clarify the cause of the positive rectilinear brain scans, frequently uncertain in strokes. In cases of ischemic stroke correlations are considered between angiography and angioscintigraphy. In particular the value of the method is discussed as a screening procedure for the detection of extra-cranial vascular disorders, amenable of surgical therapy. The authors conclude that angioscintigraphy is the method that, separately considered, provides most of the useful information in the diagnosis of stroke.

Brain↗