Biomedical subjects

S Dell'Acqua

Publications and source records attributed to S Dell'Acqua.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1998

[Urethral and prostatic urologic endoscopic surgery in day hospital].

We evaluated urethral and prostatic urological endoscopical surgery in Day Hospital, following rules proposed by Veneto Region in 1996. We made surgical treatments for urethral strictures, BPH obstruction, and sclerosis of the bladder neck in 44 patients (age: 67-84). Laser therapy and classical surgical techniques were used. Our results were good: complete resolution of obstruction, lack of bleeding, early catheter removal, and acceptable costs.

Aged↗

PubMed1996

[Orthotopic ileal neobladder of the Emikock type: technical points and functional results].

Ileal orthotopic neobladder represents, nowadays, the best urinary diversion after cystectomy. Emikock procedure was performed, in our institution, in 26 patients with bladder cancer T2-T4. At 6-60 months of follow-up 3 pts were died with local or at distance neoplastic recurrence, 2 were alive with neoplasms and 21 were NED. Nocturnal continence was good in 22 cases (88%) and only 3 patients were obstructed because of pseudodyssynergia in 2 and stricture in 1. Emikock neobladder even if needs a longer surgical time than other procedure and a long ileal tract is almost free from severe metabolic disorders. This technique offers a good protection of high urinary tract because of antireflux nipple and avoid the uretero-intestinal stricture. It not feasible, now, to know the functional trend of this reservoir on the long term. Adequate postoperative training is recommended to avoid the pseudodyssynergia and functional obstruction of reservoir.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

[Iatrogenic obstructive azoospermia].

Obstructive azoospermia is a common cause of sterility in men. In the past infection played an important role in the aetiology of obstructive azoospermia. Recently, however, the aetiology of obstructive azoospermia appears to be changing. So iatrogenic obstructive azoospermia has reached an important role in the field of obstructive azoospermia. In this work we show international literature about iatrogenic obstructive azoospermia. Unfortunately it is poor, in spite of an interesting item. We divided iatrogenic obstructive azoospermia into six groups, considering the possible anatomical site of obstruction. So we show the possible damages at the different levels: testis, epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, prostate and ejaculatory ducts.

Ejaculatory Ducts↗

PubMed1995

[Benign prostatic hypertrophy. Optimized diagnosis].

The optimal diagnostics of B.P.H. must be efficient, cheap and of spare invasiveness either physical than psychological. The optimization of diagnosis is the obtainment of high quality in the services provided, matched to a correct and shrewd utilisation of resources. To optimise a diagnosis efficiency is necessary, which means the largest degree of standardization of diagnostical procedures, with responsible management of economical factors. A course of standardization, cause his excessive simplification, cannot shared to a lot of Urologists, because in their opinion there is a risk to lose informations in every single patient, but is essential to use a universal language that make easy the comparison with patients and with results whether in order to clinics or trails. The standardisation of diagnostics consists to obtain the maximum of informations from present methodology and that is possible to realize in two way: improving the technique of execution and including the diagnostic test in the appropriate point of algorithm.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1995

[TURP: what and when. Indications, results, complications: our experience].

Transurethral resection of the prostate (T.U.R.P.) has indeed replaced open surgery in the great majority of cases, particularly when the gland is estimated to weight 50-60 g or less. After prostatectomy the patient resumes a normal voiding pattern and obstructive symptoms quickly disappear, although irritative symptoms tend to persist for some time.

Humans↗

PubMed1995

[Radical prostatectomy: our experience].

Between July 1989 and June 1994 32 men (48-73 years old) underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy for prostate cancer. 26 patients (70%) presented with symptoms of bladder outflow obstruction. The primary tumour was understaged preoperatively in 5 patients (15.5%). At follow-up (6-66 months, average 24) significant urinary incontinence not occurred in our patients; sixty-two per cent reported a substantial problem with reduced or absent erection. A total of 23 patients was free of clinical or biochemical progression, observed in 28% of cases as distant or local progression. Radical prostatectomy is being performed with increasing frequency: trends in morbidity have been identified.

Aged↗

PubMed1995

[External devices: for which patients?].

Vacuum therapy is a reversible, non-invasive form of treatment for partial impotence, with great success in USA. The story of vacuum therapy begins about 1960, when Osbon developed a vacuum tumescence device which he personally used for more than 20 years. The device was made commercially available many years ago and has been marketed under several names. The newer systems have incorporated a negative pressure pump to achieve vacuum. Osbon's system was patented in 1983, sale is permitted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it is available by prescription only. More than 10,000 units have been sold. There are four different types of vacuum therapy: 1) loading cone + constriction band; 2) external splint + negative pressure; 3) Negative pressure + constriction band; 4) Negative pressure + intracavernous injections, without the use of constriction band. Each basic system will be described. The authors make a comparison between the use of negative pressure devices plus tension band and the use of negative pression devices without tension band (plus C.I.D. with vaso-active agents). In the second case there's a sort of synergistic action between vaso-active agents and vacuum therapy, representing a sort of "vaso-active exercise" of the erectile tissue. There are no absolute contraindications to use of external penile devices and potential contraindications are few. The external penile devices described represent a reversible therapeutic modality that can augment an inadequate erection and they should prove useful in any man who needs erectile enhancement. These devices appear to be particularly effective in men with partial impotence in whom only erectile enhancement is needed.

Constriction↗

PubMed1994

Interferon-beta increases the sensitivity of endometrial cancer cells to cell-mediated cytotoxicity.

Established monolayer cell lines derived from human endometrial carcinoma (Ishikawa and HEC-50) were sensitive to the cytotoxic activity of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). The percentages of hormone-responsive Ishikawa cells lysed by the cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes were 45.7 +/- 4.3 (mean +/- SE), 31.5 +/- 4.1, and 20.1 +/- 1.6, at effector/target (E/T) ratios of 50:1, 25:1, and 12:1, respectively. Values of 44.7 +/- 5.4%, 29.4 +/- 4.6%, and 20 +/- 4.9% were obtained when non-hormone-responsive HEC-50 cells were used as targets at the same E/T ratio. The percentages of epithelial and stromal cells, isolated from human endometrial cancer, lysed by the cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes were 40 +/- 5.4 and 25.2 +/- 3.8, respectively, at an E/T ratio of 25:1. The addition of interferon-beta (IFN-beta) to the culture increased tumor target cell sensitivity to the lytic activity of untreated PBL. The increase produced by 10 IU/ml of IFN-beta ranged between 0.60- and 0.89-fold (P < 0.01 Student's t test, two-tailed, unpaired) in Ishikawa cells and between 0.37- and 0.72-fold P < 0.05) in HEC-50 cells. Higher concentrations of IFN-beta (100 and 1000 IU/ml) were less effective in increasing the sensitivity of the target cells. There was no significant increase in the cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes treated with IFN-beta whereas cytotoxic activity toward untreated tumor target cells increased when lymphocytes were treated with IFN-alpha. The effects of IFN-beta were also evaluated using epithelial and stromal cells derived from human endometrial cancer. It was found that IFN-beta at low concentrations (10 IU/ml) significantly increased the sensitivity of both epithelial and stromal cells, by 48 and 73%, respectively. Our data indicate that Ishikawa, HEC-50, epithelial, and stromal cells may provide a useful experimental model for studying the effects of immunomodulant agents such as IFN-beta in hormone-related tumors. IFN-beta increases endometrial target cell sensitivity, rather than the lytic activity of lymphocytes.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1994

Insulin, C-peptide, androgens, and beta-endorphin response to oral glucose in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

We examined the effects of an oral glucose load on plasma insulin, androgens, and beta-endorphin (beta EP) concentrations in patients carefully selected as having polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and normal glucose tolerance. Our aim was to verify whether insulin resistance is a common feature of PCOS and to differentiate the metabolic abnormalities related to PCOS from those associated with obesity. Plasma immunoreactive insulin (IRI), C-peptide (C-PR), testosterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, ACTH, and beta EP responses to a 3-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were evaluated in 10 obese (OB-PCOS) and 10 nonobese (NO-PCOS) patients with PCOS and in 7 obese and 7 nonobese ovulatory controls. OB-PCOS and NO-PCOS did not differ significantly from weight-matched controls in the IRI response, but had a significantly higher C-PR response in terms of mean postglucose load levels and mean incremental areas. During OGTT, mean plasma levels of testosterone, androstenedione, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate declined in both PCOS groups as well as in controls, and no significant correlation between the plasma androgen and IRI or C-PR responses was found. The ACTH response in OB-PCOS and NO-PCOS was similar to that in controls, with a progressive decrease until 180 min. A similar decline in plasma beta EP was found in controls, whereas no change in plasma beta EP was observed in OB-PCOS and NO-PCOS. These findings indicate that independently of the presence of obesity, PCOS patients have enhanced insulin secretion in response to OGTT and show a peculiar pattern of changes in plasma beta EP.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed1994

[Penile nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)].

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a new diagnostic technique with great opportunities of application in the field of the penile pathologies. A new interest for this diagnostic technique was born when the use of vasoactive agents, like papaverine or PGE1, and the use of para-magnetic contrast agents, like gadolinium, were introduced. The introduction of dynamic NMR in andrology allowed a better definition of anatomical details and a better knowledge of penile micro-circulation. N.M.R. is showing a great diffusion, because of a little invasiveness (X-rays are not used in this technique). The Authors show a wide spread of possible applications of NMR in penile pathologies, helping in the interpretation of the images. In conclusion the authors describe NMR as a diagnostic technique with great possibilities of improvement, even if the high costs don't allow a better diffusion until now.

Condylomata Acuminata↗

PubMed1994

[Sexuality and neoplastic disease].

Authors review principles and occurrence of sex-impairment correlated with neoplasia and related treatments. Main altering effects appear due to chemotherapy and hormone manipulation, but even surgery and radiotherapy, as well as supportive care are able to induce sex dysfunctions, either physically or psychologically. A specific grading scale (with increasing intensity from 0 to 4) is proposed, following general WHO suggestions in medical oncology, with the aim of recording and prospectively evaluating clinical data in a reproducible fashion.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Natural interferon-beta treatment and steroid hormone receptors in primary endometrial cancer.

Forty-three patients with primary endometrial carcinoma were treated with natural interferon-beta (IFN-beta) at two different dose levels (2 x 10(6) IU or 6 x 10(6) IU im 3 times/week for 1 week). IFN-beta increased receptors for estrogens (ER) and progesterone (PR) in a high percentage of the 40 evaluable patients, without modifying the receptor affinity. The ER and PR enhancement, which was simultaneous in at least 50% of patients, and the increase of over 100 fmol/mg protein observed in some cases suggest that IFN-beta exerts a profound influence on receptor expression and, probably, on the hormone sensitivity of the tumor.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1993

Preventive treatment of cortical bone loss with salmon nasal calcitonin in early postmenopausal women.

Thirty early postmenopausal women having risk factors for osteoporosis entered and 23 completed a six months double-blind placebo controlled study of the effect of nasal salmon calcitonin (SCT) (100 IU daily) plus oral calcium on bone turnover, cortical bone mass and sex-steroids. After the double-blind study SCT treatment was continued for six months in 20 women in both groups. A six months nasal SCT treatment was found to be effective in significantly increasing cortical bone mass and the gain was maintained following a 12 months treatment. The nasal SCT treatment was effective in significantly reducing parameters of bone turnover, as indicated by osteocalcin pBGP and urinary hydroxyproline levels, while during placebo administration an increasing trend of pBGP suggested a state of increasing bone remodeling. During the study, a small decrease in plasma testosterone not related to cortical bone mass and bone turnover was observed.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗

PubMed1993

[The role of laparoscopy in the evaluation of chronic pelvic pain].

Chronic pelvic pain, defined as cyclic or acyclic pain reported for a minimum of six months, is one of the most common gynecological symptoms and one of the most important in terms of social costs. From January 1987 to December 1991, 127 patients suffering from chronic pelvic pain were submitted to diagnostic laparoscopy at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome. The mean age of the patients was 30 years, ranging from 14 to 46. All patients were submitted to bimanual pelvic examination upon hospital admission, and most of them (No. = 99, 78%) to pelvic ultrasonographic examination. In 117 patients (92%) samples for the isolation of Chlamydia trachomatis in 5-iodo-2-deoxiuridine treated McCoy cell cultures were obtained from the cervix, the endometrium and the cul-de-sac peritoneal fluid. At laparoscopy, in 25 patients (20%) the exam showed normal pelvic anatomy, whereas in 102 patients (80%) some pelvic pathology was found. The most frequent conditions observed were: pelvic adhesions in 55% (No. = 70), endometriosis in 29% of the cases (No. = 37), and other pathologies (non-endometriotic ovarian cysts, hydrosalpinges, myomas, etc.) in 25% of the cases (No. = 32). At the comparison of bimanual examination and laparoscopic findings, out of 71 patients with normal findings at bimanual examination, 75% (No. = 53) were found to have abnormal findings at laparoscopy; out of 55 patients with abnormal bimanual examination, 11% (No. = 6) were found to have normal laparoscopic findings.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

PubMed1993

[Endometriosis of the abdominal wall after cesarean section].

The finding of endometriosis of the abdominal wall is a rare event; we describe three cases observed after cesarean section. The first case is an endometriosis of the rectus abdominis, first occurrence in literature. The second case describes a localization limited to the subcutaneous tissue. The third case describes the involvement of the entire abdominal wall. Only two patients complained about excruciating abdominal pain during menstrual bleeding. In one case pain was only an occasional event.

Abdominal Muscles↗

PubMed1992

Chlamydial genital infections and laparoscopic findings in infertile women.

Several studies have shown that previous chlamydial genital infection, reflected by serological markers, is strongly associated with tubal damage leading to tubal infertility. In 105 women undergoing laparoscopy, multiple samples were collected from the lower (urethra and cervix) and upper (endometrium, peritoneal fluid, tubal lumen) genital tract, in order to isolate Chlamydia trachomatis in cell culture. Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from at least one site in 13 (30.9%) of 42 infertile women with tubal infertility, in 5 (12.1%) of 41 women with unexplained infertility, in 1 of 4 women affected by acute salpingitis and in 1 (5.5%) of 18 women with endometriosis or uterine malformations. The latter group was the control group. Thirteen (65%) of the 20 positive women harboured Chlamydia trachomatis in their upper genital tract alone and 16 women were positive in one or both tubes. Only one of the positive women showed laparoscopic signs of acute pelvic infection. Four of the 5 positive women with unexplained infertility harboured Chlamydia trachomatis in the tubal lumen. This study confirms that chlamydial infection is strongly associated with tubal damage. It suggests that cervical cultures are inadequate for excluding a tubal infection and that chlamydial colonization of the tubal mucosa is possible in the absence of symptoms and laparoscopic signs of active infection.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate plasma levels in normal women and patients with benign breast disease.

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate plasma levels were measured in patients with benign breast disease and in healthy women. In addition the adrenal secretion of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate was assessed by means of an ACTH stimulation test in some patients and control subjects. The results obtained demonstrate that dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate plasma levels of patients with benign breast disease overlap those found in controls and that the adrenal response to ACTH of patients with breast pathology does not differ from that of healthy women.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

PubMed1992

Endocrine aspects of benign breast disease.

The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHAS) in the plasma of women with benign breast disease (BBD) and in normal subjects. Possible changes in DHAS plasma levels and in its adrenal secretion under adrenocorticotrophin hormone (ACTH) were also investigated in women with BBD before and after bromocriptine therapy. Our results demonstrate that plasma levels of DHAS in women with BBD overlap with those found in controls. Prolactin (PRL) suppression in women with BBD receiving bromocriptine treatment was associated with a significant (p less than 0.02) decrease of baseline DHAS plasma levels and of stimulated ACTH response curve (p less than 0.02). These data suggest a possible relationship between PRL and DHAS secretion in women with BBD.

Adrenal Glands↗