Order of events in the yeast secretory pathway.
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Endoplasmic Reticulum↗
Biomedical subjects
S Ferro
Publications and source records attributed to S Ferro.
[Differences in in-hospital mortality in patients treated with aortocoronary bypass for cardiopathic ischemia, Rome 1996].
Data from Health Information Systems (HIS) have been used in recent years to evaluate effectiveness and quality of care. We analyzed in-hospital mortality occurring within 30 days following operation among 1984 patients (age > or = 35 yrs, males 84%) who underwent Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery in seven hospitals in Rome in 1996. Data were extracted from the Lazio HIS run by the Regional Health Authority. The HIS database includes up to four diagnoses and surgical procedures (ICD-9); the following variables were considered a priori risk factors: type of ischemic disease, comorbidities, and others surgical interventions during the same admission. Logistic regression was performed in order to evaluate the association between hospital and risk of mortality after adjusting for potential confounders (ORs and 95% CI). The overall in-hospital mortality was 4.7% (ranged from 0.0 to 14.7%). Predictors of outcome included: older age, acute myocardial infarction, chronic myocardial ischemia, other heart diseases, chronic renal diseases, peripheral vascular diseases, other heart and vascular interventions. Statistically significant variability in mortality was observed across hospitals; taking hospital A as reference, hospitals D and E showed the highest risks (OR = 6.36 and OR = 3.12, respectively). We conclude that the observed differences in mortality rates among hospitals cannot be explained by differences in case mix, nor by varying coding styles. They are likely to reflect differences in currently unknown aspects of patient care.
Acute Disease↗
Bcl2, p53 and clinical outcome in a series of 138 operable breast cancer patients.
Medical oncologists are increasingly interested in identifying reliable prognostic factors for breast cancer in order to distinguish subsets of breast cancer patients and to optimize therapeutic approaches. Among them, the p53 tumor suppressor gene and bcl2 protein continue to be extensively studied, but their role remains to be defined. Moreover the mechanism of action by which they affect cell kinetics has to be clarified, particularly with respect to the balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis. We studied 138 operable breast cancer patients in order to verify the relationships of p53 and bcl2 proteins with better known clinicopathological features and their impact on the clinical outcomes of relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Our data indicated a significant relationship between bcl2 expression and steroid receptor positive status, wild-type p53 and low proliferative index. Mutant p53 accumulation was found to be related to the absence of steroid receptors and high proliferation. Both were significant markers of better prognosis in univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis confirmed the favorable impact of bcl2 on both RFS and OS. On the contrary, we failed to observe any prognostic role for p53 status. We describe herein an independent favorable prognostic impact for patients with positive bcl2 expression that appears to be worthy of larger confirmatory study. On the contrary, our series seems to confirm the decreasing prognostic relevance of p53 in clinical practice.
Aged↗
[Comparative study of the efficacy and tolerance of cetirizine verses astemizole in patients with allergic rhinitis].
Thirty four patients with allergic rhinitis were included in two randomized groups and treated with Cetirizine and Astemizole respectively, 10 mg/day in oral administration during 15 days. This study was designed in order to compare the efficacy and tolerance of Cetirizine versus Astemizole, with special reference on the collateral effects on the central nervous system. Although both drugs showed good results. Cetirizine had a statistically significant better outcome in the evolution of symptoms, above all at the second day of treatment. Also it showed superior results, based on a subjective approach, related to the rapidity, power and efficacy of its action.
Adult↗
Endoscopy and associated sampling techniques in the diagnosis and surveillance of gastric ulcer.
In the present report we have analyzed data reported in literature on the diagnostic accuracy of endoscopy and associated sampling techniques compared to standard and double contrast radiological examinations, as well as the rate of malignant transformation of benign gastric ulcer. Data on 117 patients with benign gastric ulcer examined in our Center between 1974 and 1984 are reported. From our experience, we may state that only one case underwent to malignant transformation, i.e. a rate of 1.2%, in agreement with recent literature. Three cases of malignant-ulcer had gone undiagnosed at first endoscopy, but were correctly diagnosed at a short-term re-examination. The present study, other than reconfirming the importance of the endoscopic examination with associated techniques, stresses the importance of aimed cytology and of short-term endoscopic re-examination as a mean for lowering the rate of false negative diagnoses.
Adult↗
Development of a multimedial filing system for an endoscopy unit.
The rapid technological development of biomedical instruments, and of hardware and software systems is giving new opportunities in the management of medical activities. We have developed a multimedial filing system for an Endoscopy Unit which, thanks to its versatility, is also suitable for other medical branches. The system is built on a database, and includes clinical records of patients together with endoscopic pictures and vocal comments for each case. It was developed by using "Microsoft Windows 3.1" programming and is directly connected to the videoendoscopes. The system operates in a "Novell Netware" network. Future fields of interests are reported with regard to: a) image processing procedures that can be applied; b) other types of images that can be stored such as radiological, echographic images, etc.; c) transmission of information and a global multimedial filing system serving the entire hospital; and d) a written report, including the endoscopic images of the disease.
Computer Systems↗
[The diagnosis and prevention of osteoporosis in a sample of the female population of the city of Bologna].
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Adult↗
A randomized trial on breast self-examination in Faenza (northern-Italy).
AIMS AND BACKGROUND: The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to compare two methods for teaching breast self-examination: theoretical and practical session versus mailed material. METHODS: A random sample of women aged 20-64 years was drawn from the demographic file of the city of Faenza (Northern-Italy). Of 825 sampled eligible women, 168 declined participation, 657 were randomly assigned, after completing a pretest questionnaire aimed at evaluating practice and quality of breast self-examination. Individualised instruction was administered to the treatment group invited to be taught breast self-examination in a medical practice setting. The control group received mailed information about breast self-examination. One year later, 443 women completed the posttest questionnaire. RESULTS: As far as concerns the first outcome of the trial (change in practice of breast-self examination) our study showed, after adjusting for lost-to-follow-up, no difference between the treatment and the control group. The analysis performed to evaluate the second outcome (change in quality of breast self-examination practice) showed that women of the treatment group improved the quality of breast self-examination practice more than the control group (Wilcoxon test, z = 2.4, P < 0.01). The same results have been confirmed by multiple regression analyses taking into account all potential confounders. No selection bias affected these results. CONCLUSION: Theoretical and practical sessions resulted in an improved quality of examination technique than did mailed material.
Adult↗
[A proposal for monitoring smoking prevention programs with the use of indicators].
Health administrators are aware that the adoption of prevention programs of proven efficacy does not, by itself, guarantee good results as several factors can reduce effectiveness in a specific contest. Outcome evaluation and performance monitoring is thus growing, also with the aim of a more efficient resource use. On these premises, we describe a proposal for performance monitoring of smoking prevention programs, developed from literature and original data from the authors. The system is made of three components: a) five questions to assess smoking behavior (internal coherence, (Cronbach alpha = 0.731; k ranging from 0.39 to 0.76): b) two indicators (smoking prevalence and precentage of students reached): c) theorical and practical (number to sample according to population size) information for homogeneous and efficient cluster sampling. Performance is evaluated on account of three possible determinants of the results and explicit criteria are given to reach five possible decisions. The system was tested in five Health Districts of the Emilia Romagna Region with a population of 6370 8th class students and guided further planning and implementation. Further implementation and use of the system will give us information about the utility of this proposal, that could also be adopted as a model for the evaluation of other school prevention programs.
Female↗