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Biomedical subjects

A Grimaldi

Publications and source records attributed to A Grimaldi.

231 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Concurrent radio-chemotherapy with docetaxel and cisplatinum in inoperable or relapsed head and neck cancer.

Usually head and neck cancer is treated with combined therapy, applying surgery, if possible, and then radiotherapy and chemotherapy in a sequential or concomitant way. Sequential approach seems to be preferred, because of the high toxicity rate of concomitant therapy. Platinum compounds and 5-fluorouracil are the standard drugs, but new drugs are entering therapeutic arena: gemcitabine and taxanes are the most promising ones. The efficacy of these drugs, especially in association with radiotherapy, must be assessed; moreover it is essential to ascertain how to associate these drugs to radiotherapy and to evaluate drug toxicity when combined with the latter. End point of the study here presented is a preliminar assessment of toxicity and feasibility of concurrent radio-chemoterapy with docetaxel and cisplatinum in patients with head and neck cancer. The number of enrolled patients and the relatively short time of follow up do not allow to evaluate treatment efficacy.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Infections and immunosuppressive agents in rheumatology].

The authors review the problem of infection occurring in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatism, e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus erythematosus, treated with cytolytic drugs for immunodepressive reasons. From their investigation, it seems that there is a high frequency of bacterial and mycotic and viral infections in these patients, but controlled investigations seem to show quite definitely that the frequency of these infections depends on the disease itself. The risk does not seem to be increased by cytolytic drugs. The only exception is herpes which appears in 10 to 20% of patients treated with immunosuppressive agents, as against 2% in a controll series. The other virus diseases did not have an abnormally high frequency. The conclusions are, of course, only of value for the types of treatment used in rheumatology.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome associated with 5-OH-tryptophan. Description of a case].

The Authors report a case of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome in a patient with a history of alcohol abuse, treated with a 5-OH-tryptophan containing drug. As regards the pathogenesis of this "new" clinical syndrome, three major hypotheses can be considered: a) autoimmune, according to which tryptophan could act as an "immunogenic" stimulus, thus evoking a cell-mediated reaction against neuromuscular structures; b) dysmetabolic, that is to say, related to neurotoxic metabolites of tryptophan, which in certain conditions could be degraded by an "alternate" pathway that is normally less operating; c) toxic, which is the most accredited nowadays, according to which there is a toxic factor, perhaps similar to aniline, linked to the process of manufacture and purification of L-tryptophan. In our patient, the drug withdrawal and a therapy with steroids led to the remission of the syndrome.

5-Hydroxytryptophan↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Activity of Daflon 500 mg on the hemorheological disorders in diabetes.

A rheological study was performed on blood samples from 10 insulin-treated diabetics with retinopathy. As part of their treatment, they all received 4 tablets of Daflon 500 mg per day for 30 days. Three complementary rheological criteria were used to characterize blood samples: 1) viscometry, using a Couette viscometer, which produces data on viscosity, shear-thinning, viscoelasticity and tixotropy of blood, 2) aggregametry, using an apparatus based on light reflectometry, using a filtrometer based on the deformations red cells undergo as they pass through narrow pores which produces information on red cell deformability. The main results were: a better red blood cell disaggregability, a decrease in red blood cell aggregation and no change in red blood cell deformability.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Vasopressin secretion during hyperglycemia in insulin-dependent diabetics.

Plasma levels of vasopressin (AVP) were measured in ten insulin-dependent diabetic patients before and during intravenous administration of hypertonic glucose. Plasma glucose and plasma osmolality increased from 12.4 +/- 1.2 to 47.0 +/- 2.3 mmol/l and from 293 +/- 2.0 to 307 +/- 2.8 mosm/kg respectively. Plasma vasopressin increased in parallel from 5.6 +/- 0.6 to 7.7 +/- 0.6 pg/ml. The present results demonstrate that hyperglycemia may be an effective stimulus for AVP secretion in insulin-deficient diabetics.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The mammographic images of the irradiated breast after conservative therapy for carcinoma].

The mammographic patterns of the patients treated with conservative surgery (quadrantectomy) plus radiotherapy for early breast carcinoma were evaluated to assess treatment-induced changes over time and to improve the differential diagnosis between postirradiation effects and possible tumor recurrences. The mammographic examinations of 79 patients who had undergone quadrantectomy and radiotherapy for breast carcinoma (stage T1-T2) were examined. Skin thickening, edema, fibrosis, distortion and calcifications were considered and classified by comparing the radiographic patterns of the treated breast with those of the contralateral and untreated one. Pattern changes over time were also evaluated and quantified by comparing serial follow-up examinations of the same breast. The percentage of patients with irradiation-induced skin thickening steadily reduced from 100% at 6 months to just above 50% at 4 years. The number of patients showing diffuse irradiation-induced edema decreased from 56% at 6 months to 15% at 1 year and to 0% at 2 years, while the number of cases with localized edema decreased more slowly. The incidence of localized postirradiation breast fibrosis increased to 74% at 4 years, while diffuse fibrosis stabilized around 14%. The patients with no postoperative breast distortion accounted for nearly 33% of the examined cases, while those with minimal distortion approximated 58% and those with gross distortion 9%. In conclusion, the overall results confirmed the value of mammography in the follow-up of the patients treated with QUART.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Insulin-dependent diabetes and psychiatric pathology: general clinical and epidemiologic review].

Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus is one of the most common metabolic diseases and affects 150,000 persons in France. To achieve good metabolic control requires a strict daily management of the treatment by the patients themselves. Lack of active involvement can have direct consequences which underlines the importance of a good adherence to the treatment. About 50% of the patients do not obtain adequate metabolic control. The major problem of insulin treatment consists in the repeated occurrence of severe hypoglycemias which may be accompanied by an alteration of the perception of hypoglycaemic signs. On the other hand, when the risk of severe hypoglycaemia is removed, glycosylated haemoglobin levels rise. Permanent hyperglycaemia leads to numerous somatical complications. An extremely dramatic combination of these two types of metabolic unbalance is represented by the brittle diabetes characterised by very frequent and extreme oscillations between hypo and hyperglycaemia. This raises the question of the influence of psychopathological factors on metabolic control and the possibility of improving metabolic control by acting on these factors. Epidemiological studies in diabetic patients have established higher prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders, in particular mood and anxiety disorders. The current prevalence rate of depression was found to be homogeneous in the literature about 11% and life time prevalence rates of major depressive disorders vary between 24% and 29%. The symptom profile of depression in diabetic patients is similar to that in depressed non diabetic psychiatric patients and it has been shown that highly sensitive psychiatric diagnosis of depression can be made among diabetic patients. There is no specific personality pattern in diabetic patients. There seems to be a relationship between metabolic control as defined by glycosylated haemoglobin and psychiatric disorders. Indeed, high levels of glycosylated haemoglobin are found in patients with psychiatric disorders. There seems to be some evidence of an association between blood glucose levels and actual emotional states. Nothing is known about the specificity of the link between psychiatric disorders and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. No study has evaluated if the relationship between psychiatric disorders and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is due to the disease itself or to the chronic feature of diabetes.

Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring↗