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Biomedical subjects

A Delfino

Publications and source records attributed to A Delfino.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Salvage chemotherapy in Hodgkin's disease irradiation failures: superiority of doxorubicin-containing regimens over MOPP.

One hundred and twenty-two consecutive patients with Hodgkin's disease who relapsed after primary curative irradiation were treated with either MOPP (mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone) or a doxorubicin-containing regimen (ADM-Reg). The main pretreatment characteristics were comparable in the two groups. Complete remission was achieved in 74.6% of patients treated with MOPP (44 of 59) and in 90.5% of those given ADM-Reg (57 of 63). No difference was observed in the incidence of complete remission with regard to the type of ADM-Reg utilized [MABOP (mechlorethamine, doxorubicin, bleomycin, vincristine, and prednisone), 92.9%; ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine), 95.6%; and MOPP alternated with ABVD, 84.6%]. The superiority of ADM-Reg versus MOPP was also confirmed in the 7-year analysis of freedom from disease progression (73.2% vs 42.2%), relapse-free survival (81.2% vs 54.3%), and overall survival (80.5% vs 44.4%). Thrombocytopenia was less frequently observed with ADM-Reg (30%), particularly following ABVD (13%), compared to MOPP (73%). The lowest incidence of alopecia occurred in patients given MOPP (15%) or MOPP/ABVD (19%). Acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia was observed in patients treated with MOPP (five of 59) and MABOP (one of 14). The observed findings indicate that in patients failing to respond to primary radiotherapy, salvage regimens containing doxorubicin are more effective than MOPP. Furthermore, combinations devoid of procarbazine and alkylating agents (ABVD) or with less intensive administration of these drugs (MOPP/ABVD) were not associated with secondary leukemia.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Lateral deformation and movement effects on flow through distensible tube models of blood vessels.

The fluid flow through a tube with an oscillating elliptical cross-section was analyzed in order to understand better the effects of lateral deformation and movement on flow patterns in large and medium-sized blood vessels. Time-dependent elliptical deformation may be caused by external forces, as is the case for the large vessels near the heart, or by lateral movement of the entire compliant vessel, as in the coronary arteries. An analytic, perturbation-type solution was found for the case of fully developed flow in a tube where the cross-section oscillated periodically from an ellipse to a circle. Analytic expressions were found for all three components of the velocity vector. The effects of the deformation on the axial velocity profile included near-wall fluctuations in velocity that depended on the local wall motion. At higher values of the Womersley parameter, these effects were more pronounced. Secondary flow patterns were established that swirled fluid from the center of the vessel to the walls, then back to the center. It was concluded that these phenomena could be important to flow in the largest vessels, but may not be so important in determining flow patterns in the coronary arteries.

Blood Flow Velocity↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The coronary vasculature and the myocardium.

The effect of bradykinin (BK) on myocardial inotropic state was tested on 5 isolated rat heart preparations, in which a proper ballon was placed to record left ventricular pressure, whose developed systolic value was taken as an index of contractility. A reduction of developed left ventricular pressure was observed when BK was added to the perfusion oxygenated Tyrode solution. However, when BK was given after 1-amino-benzotriazole, an inhibitor of Cytochrome P-450 (Cyt P-450), developed pressure did not change. Since Cyt P-450 is known to act on arachidonic acid inducing the production of epoxiecocistrienoic acids (EETs) which hyperpolarizes myocardial fibres, it was argued that the reduction in contractility by bradykinin was the result of the hyperpolarizing effect of EETs. The fact that the concentration of Cyt P-450 is higher in the vascular endothelial cells than in the sarcolemma of the myocytes and the observation that the coronary resistance decreases together with the contractility suggest that the endothelium plays a pivotal role in mediating the negative inotropic effect of BK.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Epilepsy, cerebral calcifications and coeliac disease. The importance of an early diagnosis].

INTRODUCTION: Coeliac disease (CD) has been linked to several neurological disorders, with a clearly higher incidence of epilepsy than in the general population. Since Gobbi's original description of the epilepsy with cerebral calcifications and coeliac disease syndrome in 1992, various reports have been published concerning different stages of development, although a number of questions remain to be answered with respect to its pathogenesis. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical symptoms and progression of three patients with the characteristic syndrome, who were diagnosed in the early stages of the disease. CASE REPORTS: We describe the cases of three males, of school age, who visited because of partial seizures with visual symptoms that were secondarily generalised. A tomography scan of the head revealed bilateral occipital calcifications in all cases. The electroencephalogram showed temporooccipital paroxysmal discharges with a normal background rhythm. Tests for antiendomysium and antigliadin antibodies, with positive results, and a small intestine biopsy study were requested, which confirmed the suspicion of a grade 3 severe enteropathy. All the patients, following a gluten-free diet and taking anticonvulsants, were free of seizures in the follow-up (1, 2 and 8 years). CONCLUSIONS: It is of vital importance to investigate CD in any patient with epilepsy and occipital cerebral calcifications, even in the absence of digestive symptoms, since early diagnosis and treatment with exclusion of gluten affect how the syndrome courses later on.

Brain↗