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A Andriulli

Publications and source records attributed to A Andriulli.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Endoscopic ultrasonography in eosinophilic infiltration of gastric wall.

The case of a young man with eosinophilic gastroenteritis with primary muscularis propria involvement in the antrum and distal ileum is presented. Initial diagnosis was based uniquely on indirect clinical and radiological findings since endoscopic and histologic data had been misled by the depth of eosinophilic infiltration. In order to directly prove the diagnosis, full-thickness operative biopsy would have been necessary but was avoided on ethical grounds. Valuable information was gained through Endoscopic Ultrasonographic (EUS) study of the antrum which showed an asymmetrical thickening of the outer hypoechoic layer of the wall corresponding to the muscularis propria. The overall thickness of the antrum amounted to 0.6 cm, clearly distinct from the 0.2 cm value in uninvolved areas. Subserosal involvement was also appreciated in spite of the absence of ascites; superficial layers, mucosa and submucosa, appeared uninvolved. The patient was restudied 6 months later when symptom-free: at this time, blood eosinophilia persisted and the EUS picture was unchanged. These observations suggest that peripheral blood eosinophilia along with eosinophilic infiltration of the gastric wall are stable conditions, unrelated to symptoms. Endoscopic ultrasonography is of value in ascertaining muscular involvement in eosinophilic gastroenteritis.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Canrenone and androgen receptor-active materials in plasma of cirrhotic patients during long-term K-canrenoate or spironolactone therapy.

Plasma levels of canrenone and androgen receptor-active materials (ARM) were determined during long-term oral K-canrenoate or spironolactone therapy in cirrhotics with chronic recurrent ascites. Mean plasma canrenone level was approximately 3 times higher under K-canrenoate than under spironolactone treatment; moreover, the levels were not dose related. Either type of treatment did not affect plasma aldosterone and testosterone concentrations. Plasma ARM during K-canrenoate treatment did not change, whereas in the spironolactone group a 3-fold increase of ARM occurred (p less than 0.05). No dose-related effect was evident with the latter treatment. The lower incidence of gynecomastia in the K-canrenoate group was not correlated with values of plasma canrenone or ARM (p greater than 0.05). Our study questions the traditional view that the mode of action of spironolactone is via its metabolite canrenone. The two antialdosterone drugs, although equally effective in clearing ascites from cirrhotics, appear to act through partially different metabolites. The lower incidence of antiandrogenic or estrogen-like side effects during K-canrenoate seems to be related to metabolites other than canrenone itself.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Pancreatic steatorrhea and pulmonary tuberculosis.

The authors present a case of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in a 37 yr old woman treated for pulmonary tuberculosis. The exocrine pancreatic failure is suggested to be secondary to previous pancreatic tuberculosis since no other cause of pancreatic disease was found and the diarrhea with steatorrhea started 6 mth after the lung disease. Steatorrhea was promptly reverted after institution of oral therapy with pancreatic supplements and the patient gained 7 kg of body weight during the successive follow-up of 4 yr.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

[Prevalence of peptic ulcer in patients with various hepatopathies].

Aim of this study was to re-evaluate the overall prevalence of a peptic disease in 350 patients with liver diseases of different etiology and severity. A normal endoscopic picture was found in 82% of cases. Peptic lesions were found in 18% of total cases and were located in the duodenal (10.9%) and gastric (7.1%) wall. On the basis of the 15-20% rate, which most Authors think to be a reasonable estimate of the overall ulcer prevalence in normal population, the prevalence rate in this survey would suggest that there is no association between ulcer and liver disease. Ulcers were more commonly present in cirrhotic than in noncirrhotic patients. Both alcohol intake and cigarette smoking were identified as two ulcerogenic events in these patients while portal hypertension and etiology of liver disease were irrelevant factors. The contemporary occurrence of the three ulcerogenic factors (cirrhosis, smoking, and alcohol intake) in a given patient seems to potentiate each others as ulcerogenic event. It is concluded that patients with liver diseases share the same risk of developing a peptic disease as the general population.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Effect of regular and decaffeinated coffee on serum gastrin levels.

We evaluated the hypothesis that the noncaffeine gastric acid stimulant effect of coffee might be by way of serum gastrin release. After 10 healthy volunteers drank 50 ml of coffee solution corresponding to one cup of home-made regular coffee containing 10 g of sugar and 240 mg/100 ml of caffeine, serum total gastrin levels peaked at 10 min and returned to basal values within 30 min; the response was of little significance (1.24 times the median basal value). Drinking 100 ml of sugared water (as control) resulted in occasional random elevations of serum gastrin which were not statistically significant. Drinking 100 ml of regular or decaffeinated coffee resulted in a prompt and lasting elevation of total gastrin; mean integrated outputs after regular or decaffeinated coffee were, respectively, 2.3 and 1.7 times the values in the control test. Regular and decaffeinated coffees share a strong gastrin-releasing property. Neither distension, osmolarity, calcium, nor amino acid content of the coffee solution can account for this property, which should be ascribed to some other unidentified ingredient. This property is at least partially lost during the process of caffeine removal.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Prospective evaluation of the diagnostic efficacy of CA 19-9 assay as a marker for gastrointestinal cancers.

Levels of a new carbohydrate antigen, CA 19-9, which is a monosialoganglioside identified by a monoclonal antibody raised against colorectal carcinoma cells, were compared to conventional CEA assays in 615 sera from healthy controls, patients with benign gastrointestinal disorders, and patients with cancers of gastrointestinal or extragastrointestinal origin. Whereas CEA levels were higher in smokers, CA 19-9 values were independent of the smoking history. CA 19-9 was undetectable in lymphoma and myeloma patients, but some patients with extraintestinal epithelial cancers expressed this antigen in serum. For benign and malignant gastrointestinal diseases, CA 19-9 displayed higher sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values than CEA. CA 19-9 was elevated as frequently as CEA in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, but in patients with localized disease, CA 19-9 was elevated more often than was CEA. In colorectal cancer, patients with and without metastases were detected at similar rates by both assays. It is concluded that CA 19-9 is a marker of epithelial cancers, does not vary with the smoking status, and is superior to CEA in detecting gastrointestinal malignancies, especially those arising from the pancreatic gland.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1986

CA 19-9 assay in differential diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma from inflammatory pancreatic diseases.

Levels of a new carbohydrate antigen CA 19-9, which is a monosialoganglioside identified by a monoclonal antibody raised against colorectal carcinoma cells, were compared to carcinoembryonic antigen and tissue polypeptide antigen assays in 250 sera from patients with different pancreatic diseases including acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, and pancreatic cancer. All three tumoral markers were elevated at the onset of an acute pancreatic attack in a few patients. All but five patients with chronic pancreatitis displayed normal levels with each of the three markers; in two of these five cases an extraintestinal cancer was later discovered. CA 19-9 displayed higher sensitivity and predictive value of a negative result than the other two markers. The best operational characteristic of CA 19-9 was its high predictive value for a positive test which suggests a "ruling in" usage of it for pancreatic cancer diagnosis. CA 19-9 assay was of extreme value in disclosing both localized and metastatic pancreatic cancer while the other two markers were more often positive in the latter case. Of 71 cancer patients with positive markers, only four would have escaped a right diagnosis by assaying CA 19-9 alone.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1986

Evocative test of serum pancreatic enzymes to bombesin in chronic pancreatitis.

The levels of serum immunoreactive trypsinogen and P-isoamylase in response to Bombesin intravenous infusion were evaluated in 25 controls, 18 patients with documented chronic pancreatitis, and nine subjects with nonpancreatic gastroenterological diseases. Mean immunoreactive trypsinogen peak values were significantly higher in controls and gastroenterological diseases than in chronic pancreatitis, but there was marked overlap in individual values between the three groups. As for P-isoamylase, a statistical difference was detected only between mean peak concentrations of control versus chronic pancreatitis. Integrated responses for both enzymes did not result in a better discrimination between controls, chronic pancreatitis, and gastroenterological diseases. This study confirms that evocative tests are of limited value in the diagnosis of pancreatic disease.

Bombesin↗
PubMed1985

Patients with chronic renal failure are not at a risk of developing chronic peptic ulcers.

This study reports the endoscopic and histological aspects of gastrointestinal mucosa in a consecutive series of 249 patients with chronic renal failure on conservative hemodialysis, who were awaiting renal transplantation. At endoscopy the mucosa was normal in 54.2% of the cases and revealed gross inflammatory changes in 34.1%. Duodenal ulcers were found in 11.2% of patients with only one gastric ulcer. Of the 28 duodenal ulcers, 16 were active and 12 inactive lesions. Gastric biopsies sampled from 44 non-ulcer patients showed signs of chronic gastritis in 29.6%, atrophic gastritis in 18.2, and reported normal in 52.3% of the cases. The above findings were not affected by the ages of patients or by the total duration of hemodialysis treatment. It is concluded that patients with chronic renal failure share the same risk of developing chronic peptic ulcers as the general population. Moreover, the overall endoscopic and histological appearance of the mucosa in these patients appears not to differ from data reported in the general population.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Serum trypsinogen.

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Celiac Disease↗
PubMed1984

Monthly fluctuations of active duodenal ulcers.

In an attempt to verify whether the periodicity of ulcer-related symptoms would be confirmed by a spring and fall exacerbation of peptic ulcers, we have analyzed the monthly variation of active duodenal ulcers found at endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract in the years 1979-1981. Control diagnoses were active gastric ulcers, gastric and rectal adenocarcinomas, and rheumatoid arthritis. Data were also available on hospital admission for perforated ulcers. The calendar fluctuation of active duodenal ulcer is characterized by a significant fall in August which is associated with July and fall peaks. This pattern of variation for duodenal ulcer was evident in both sexes and across the different decades of age. Duodenal ulcer diagnosis and hospitalization for perforated ulcer fluctuated in a similar way. The shape of monthly variation for active duodenal ulcer was not paralleled by similar changes in gastric ulcers and in the control diagnoses, gastric and rectal carcinomas, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Pulmonary involvement in chronic pancreatitis.

Although the association between acute pancreatitis and pleuropulmonary damage is well documented, so far no information on lung function in patients with chronic pancreatitis is available. In this study functional, radiological, and clinical investigations have been carried out in 42 patients affected by chronic calcific pancreatitis (CCP) and in 50 controls in a case-control study. An impairment of pulmonary diffusing capacity has been detected in CCP patients, while all the parameters of ventilatory function were not different from controls. This finding suggests the presence of early lung parenchymal damage in chronic pancreatitis secondary to either emphysema or pulmonary fibrosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Influence of sex and body size on pancreatic bicarbonate and enzyme output.

The study was aimed both at defining normal values of pancreatic function and at looking at variables (age, sex, body weight, height, and body surface) which may influence the range of normality in 271 normal controls evaluated consecutively by duodenal intubation from 1974 to 1981. Frequency distribution of all functional values were consistent with a Gaussian curve. A positive, linear correlation was found between secretory parameters and both volume secretion and output values, while no correlation was detected with bicarbonate and enzymes values. Duodenal fluid secretion and both bicarbonate and enzymes output were approximately 20% higher in males than in females, the difference being statistically significant. Mean values of both bicarbonate and enzyme concentration were not statistically different between sexes. When related to body surface, both volume and outputs values in males were no more different from those observed in females. The study has shown that body size influences pancreatic functional values and, therefore, the values should be related to some parameters of body size as body surface. The difference between males and females in fluid secretion and output values is linked primarily to differences in body size. The normal distribution of all functional parameters implies that normal limits may be calculated with standard parametric statistical analysis.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Relation between serum cathodic trypsinogen levels and exocrine pancreatic function.

To assess the relation between circulating cathodic trypsinogen (CT) levels and exocrine pancreatic function, and to compare the radioimmunological with the enzymatic measurement of duodenal trypsin, we evaluated exocrine pancreatic function in 34 controls and in 32 patients with proven chronic pancreatitis (CP). There was no relation between CT and the volume rate of pancreatic secretion, nor did serum CT levels correlate with the concentration output of duodenal bicarbonate in controls. However, in CP patients, there was a low value of the correlation coefficient. A good relationship between serum CT levels and duodenal trypsin secretion was detected when the trypsin content was expressed as the mean value of both concentration and output. The enzymatic estimation of duodenal trypsin was related closely to its radioimmunological measurement, but there was better correlation of serum CT to duodenal immunoreactive than to enzymatic trypsin. In patients with CP, low levels were observed in 29% of cases with serum CT estimation, in 75% with duodenal bicarbonate, and in 63% and 79% with enzymatic and immunoreactive trypsin outputs, respectively. We conclude that serum CT levels may reflect the functioning mass of pancreatic acinar cells and that in assessing pancreatic secretory capacity, the immunoreactive measurement of trypsin excretion is more sensitive than the enzymatic measurement and as accurate as bicarbonate output.

Bicarbonates↗