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Biomedical subjects

A Alberti

Publications and source records attributed to A Alberti.

At least 415 records · Page 23Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Inguino-crural hernias: preoperative diagnosis and post-operative follow-up by high-resolution ultrasonography. A personal experience.

BACKGROUND: Hernia is an important pathology with an incidence of 5% in world population. The more affect region is the inguino-femoral. Normally the diagnosis was based on the clinical exam. A short time ago the high resolution ultrasonographic study was introduced. The purpose of our study was to value the sensitivity of US-HR in the preoperative diagnosis, in the postoperative follow-up and to compare the results to clinical exam. METHODS: 140 patients affect by inguino-femoral hernia underwent this study, 112 inguinal hernias, 28 femoral, 8 pediatric patients. 106 patients underwent repair through the prosthesis, in 34 Halstad-Postempsky's technique was carried out. Ultrasonography studied: a) inguino-femoral region, cord and scrotum (the study was effected in basal condition and through Valsalva's manoeuver, decubitus changes); b) hernia content (omenutm, bowel); c) hernial orifice and of hernial content's transit (direct or indirect); d) the relation with the inguinal ligament; e) the vascularization (power-doppler) and the pathological situation (presence or absence of liquid in the sac, parietal thickness, presence/absence of peristalsis), in case of hernia complication; f) the presence/absence of simultaneous pathologies (hydrocele, varicocele, cord's cyst). The postoperative study was effected after 7 days, 1-6-12 months we have observed: a) haematomas and seromes (under the skin, under the aponeurosis, scrotal); b) prosthesis displacement; c) prosthesis infection; d) prosthesis reject; e) recurrence (importance, site); f) we have carried out the treatment of the complications (echoguided drainage of serous and hematic collection). RESULTS: The sensitivity of US-HR in the diagnosis of hernia was 87.5%. The clinical exam arrived at an average of 72%, the comparison was favourable to US-HR (15.5%). The sensitivity in the diagnosis of complication arrived at an average of 85.5% for US-HR, and of 36% for clinical exam; the gap between the two techniques was elevated (49.5%). CONCLUSIONS: The US-HR showed an important accuracy and sensitivity thus to cover today an important role, after the clinical exam, in the preoperative diagnosis and in the postoperative follow-up of the inguino-femoral hernias.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Environmental monitoring of infective risks in Italian dental offices].

BACKGROUND: Bacterial contamination in dental offices plays a primary role in the evaluation of infective risks for patients and dental personnel. The aim of the research was to study bacterial contamination in eight Italian dental offices by investigating the water of dental units, the air and certain surfaces (push-button panel and instrument cabinet) in order to evaluate potential risks in dental practices. METHODS: The water underwent a microbiological test as specified by Italian law (DPR 236/88). The water was sampled from the hoses and air/water syringes of twenty dental units. The microbiological analysis of the air was performed using sedimentation plates to evaluate microbial fall-out. The microbiological analysis of the surfaces was performed using membrane filters to evaluate microbial accumulation. RESULTS: The research showed bacteriological contamination of the dental unit water in all the dental offices. During the working activity total bacteriological counts in the air fall-out were fairly high and the surfaces examined showed some widespread bacterial contamination in dental practices. The results of this study show the importance of routine monitoring of microbial contamination of dental offices and, in case of contamination, the need to apply disinfection treatments for the waterlines and preventive measures for the aerosol reduction. CONCLUSIONS: Our research was used to work out a program for the prevention of environmental contamination in dental offices.

Aerosols↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Genotoxicity of surface water treated with different disinfectants using in situ plant tests].

Disinfection of surface drinking water, in particular water chlorination, produces many by-products with genotoxic and/or carcinogenic activity. The aim of this research was to evaluate the genotoxicity of surface water after treatment with different disinfectants by means of in situ plant genotoxicity assays. The study was carried out in a pilot plant using lake water after sedimentation and filtration, which supplied four stainless steel basins: three basins were disinfected with sodium hypochlorite, chlorine dioxide and peracetic acid, respectively, and the fourth basin contained untreated lake water and was used as a control. The study was carried out using water collected in different seasons over a period of about one year in order to assess the treatments under different physical and chemical lake water conditions. Plant genotoxicity tests were performed by exposing plant bioindicators directly to raw and disinfected water. The Tradescantia micronucleus test in pollen cells of the flowers of an hybrid of Tradescantia and the Allium cepa test, a chromosome aberration test in root cells of Allium cepa, showed genotoxic effects only in some disinfected samples and revealed genotoxicity also in raw water in one experiment. The Vicia faba test, a micronucleus test in root cells of Vicia faba, revealed genotoxicity in many samples of disinfected water. The results of the study indicated that the Vicia faba/MCN test was the most sensitive plant assay for disinfected water, and that peracetic acid disinfection produced lower genotoxicity than sodium hypochlorite or chlorine dioxide treatment.

Disinfectants↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Evaluation of genotoxicity of sodium hypochlorite, chlorine dioxide and peracetic acid using plant tests].

The aim of this research was to evaluate the potential genotoxic effects of three drinking water disinfectants by means of in vivo short-term mutagenicity tests using plants. The study was carried out in laboratory using distilled water disinfected with sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), chlorine dioxide (ClO2) and peracetic acid (PAA) at different concentrations both in neutral and acid conditions. Untreated distilled water was used as a negative control. Micronuclei test in Tradescantia pollen cells and chromosomal aberration test in root cells of Allium cepa were the bioassays performed by exposing directly plant bioindicators to treated and untreated distilled water. The Tradescantia/micronuclei test gave positive results in most of the ClO2-treated water samples but only at acid pH. The Allium cepa test showed genotoxicity in NaClO-treated samples at acid pH and in a ClO2-treated sample at pH 7. PAA-treated samples were always nongenotoxic. Since the concentrations tested of free disinfectants are usually present in drinking water for biocidal purposes, genotoxicity of these compounds could be a public health problem.

Chlorine Compounds↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hepatitis viruses as aetiological agents of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis viruses, particularly HBV and HCV, are major causes of hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide, due to the induction of chronic liver disease and of cirrhotic transformation of the liver. Cirrhosis certainly represents the most important link between chronic viral hepatitis and HCC. Under these circumstances, risk of HCC development in chronic HBV and HCV infection is strictly dependent on the propensity to cirrhotic transformation. Intervention of other, more direct, molecular events induced by the virus itself are suspected, particularly for HBV which is able to integrate into the host genome, but not yet incontrovertibly proved.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Treatment of cryptogenic chronic liver diseases with recombinant alpha-2a interferon. Preliminary results of a randomized controlled clinical trial].

Fifty-six consecutive patients with cryptogenic chronic active liver disease were enrolled in a randomized controlled clinical trial of alpha-2a interferon and randomly assigned to a control group (28 patients) and to a treated one (28 patients). All had a histologic diagnosis of chronic active hepatitis (with superimposed cirrhosis in 50% of them) and presented a persistent elevation in aminotransferases, during the last year. Ad-interim analysis shows that 19 out of 28 treated patient (68%) have normalized the aminotransferases during the eight months of therapy, with a statistically significant difference (p less than 0.01) between treated and control group; nevertheless, in 58% of them, we noted rising aminotransferases at low doses of interferon with subsequent normalization when the dose was increased to previous effective levels. Retrospectively, the antibody directed to virus C (anti-HCV) was found positive in 84% of our patients, and its presence was strongly associated with response to interferon treatment. Our preliminary results seem to demonstrate that interferon is truly effective, mainly at high doses, in cryptogenic chronic active liver disease; these data with the high prevalence of anti-HCV and the association between anti-HCV and response to therapy, may confirm a possible etiologic role of virus C in causing this subgroup of liver disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Recombinant alpha-2a interferon in treatment of B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia. A preliminary report with emphasis on previously untreated patients in early stage of disease.

Eleven previously untreated patients with B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) (eight in Binet's stage A, two in stage B and one in stage C) received therapy with alpha-2a interferon (Roferon AR, Hoffman, La Roche) at a rather low dose (3.0 MU) given intramuscularly three times a week for a total of 14 weeks. In all cases an objective, although transient, response as measured by a decrease in the absolute lymphocyte count was observed (P less than 0.05). In four patients an increase in the absolute number of granulocytes in the peripheral blood could be detected. Characteristically the response was obtained early after starting treatment (median 4 weeks). None of the patients achieved a complete remission. Interestingly, a stage C patients with thrombocytopenia not due to hypersplenism and a non-diffuse pattern of bone marrow disease obtained significant improvement in the platelet count. Interferon was well tolerated by most patients without major toxicity. These results suggest that alpha-interferon may be useful in the therapy of previously untreated B-CLL patients with a low tumor burden.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Medicine and society].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Delivery of Health Care↗
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Second neoplasms in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: analysis of incidence as a function of the length of follow-up.

Among 191 chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients seen at our institution over an 18-year period, 13 (6.8%) were found to have a second neoplasm (sN). A neoplasm associated with CLL was diagnosed concurrently in 7 cases and subsequently in 6, respectively. Although a trend toward a more frequent incidence in male patients older than 65 years with a more aggressive form of leukemia and who needed therapy could be detected, the clinical characteristics of these 13 patients did not differ significantly from those of the general population of CLL patients. The analysis of the sN risk as a function of the length of follow-up, by calculating the actuarial risk and the hazard function plot, provides important information on the natural history of sN appearing in CLL. The actuarial risk of sN at 5 years was 9.7% or 6.9%, respectively, according to whether we did or did not consider cases of cutaneous carcinomas. The smoothed hazard function showed a pattern of decreasing rate over the first year, a rise to 3.0% by the third year, and no increasing risk later in the follow-up. This trend was associated with a high incidence of sNs synchronous with CLL, and with a clustering of sNs among patients who died early, before reaching median survival. In addition, the early appearance of the sN risk is analogous to the renal transplant experience and suggests that sNs may result from impaired immune surveillance.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Membranous nephropathy associated with chronic hepatitis caused by B virus].

We report 6 cases with membranous glomerulonephritis associated with chronic hepatitis B virus infection, who came under our observation for microscopic haematuria in 2 cases, haematuria and proteinuria in 1 case, and nephrotic syndrome in the others. At the examination all 6 children were found to have hepatomegaly with raised serum transaminase activity. All the patients were positive in the serum for HBsAg and anti-HBc, 3 were HBeAg and anti-HBe negative. Liver biopsy showed features of chronic hepatitis with moderate signs of activity. Renal biopsy was consistent with membranous glomerulonephritis in all patients. With a fluorescent antibody technic HBeAg was found to be deposited in diffuse granular fashion, along glomerular capillary walls, together with IgG, in 2 out of 3 cases stained, but no deposition of HBsAg was detected in all the patients. Steroid therapy was started from 18 to 33 months. Urine analysis became negative in 4 cases and persisted normal in the follow-up. One patient with haematuria developed nephrotic syndrome and one died from miliary tuberculosis. Our findings suggest that the clinical outcome is favourable in children with membranous glomerulonephritis and chronic active hepatitis and that the pathogenesis probably is not unique.

Child↗