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Biomedical subjects

A Martini

Publications and source records attributed to A Martini.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Osteoblastoma-like osteosarcoma. The Rizzoli Institute experience.

A series of 11 osteosarcomas that histologically resembles osteoblastoma was reviewed. The ages of the seven males and four females ranged from 19 to 47 yr (average 29). In six patients the roentgenograms showed cortical destruction and poorly defined borders on the lesion; this roentgenographic presentation was suggestive of malignancy. Histologically, the tumor permeation of the surrounding host tissue allowed us to differentiate osteoblastoma-like osteosarcoma from osteoblastoma. The differential diagnosis can be very difficult or even impossible on a small biopsy. The first diagnosis was considered benign in nine of our cases. Osteoblastoma-like osteosarcoma is a rare variety of osteosarcoma (1.1% of all osteosarcoma). It is a low-grade malignant lesion in which recurrence is the rule when adequate surgical margins were not achieved (five patients). Two of these patients died from tumors after inadequate surgical treatment of the primary tumor as well as of the recurrences. The six patients who were treated with wide surgical margins were alive without recurrence. One of them had lung metastasis, twice, treated with wide-wedge resection. Osteoblastoma-like osteosarcoma is a low-grade variety of osteosarcoma with characteristic histopathologic features. It needs to be recognized by the pathologist to achieve the right treatment which is wide surgical procedure.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

A prevalence study of carotid atherosclerotic disease in patients aged above 60.

The results of Doppler sonography and the echotomographic evaluation of extracranial arteries performed on 139 asymptomatic patients aged above 60 are presented. Atheromatous lesions were found in 54 (38.85%) of the subjects, though most had no hemodynamic effects. Statistical analysis showed an increase in both number and gravity of lesions with advancing age in females alone. No significant association was found between risk factors and atheromatous lesions, except for smoking in males.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1993

Association of methotrexate treatment with a decrease of double negative (CD4-CD8-) and gamma/delta T cell levels in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: It has been suggested that double negative (CD4-CD8-) (DN) and gamma/delta T cells may be involved in some autoimmune diseases. We investigated peripheral blood DN and gamma/delta T cell levels in patients with active juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). METHODS: DN and gamma/delta T cell levels were measured in 42 patients with active JRA and in 10 healthy controls comparable for age by an immunofluorescence double staining procedure. RESULTS: All 3 JRA onset types had DN and gamma/delta T cell levels not significantly different from those of controls, although a wide scattering of data was present. No correlation was found between DN or gamma/delta T cell levels and erythrocyte sedimentation rate values or the number of active joints. When patients were divided according to treatment, we found that DN and gamma/delta T cell levels were significantly lower (p = 0.001, p = 0.02, respectively) in patients receiving methotrexate (MTX) than in patients not receiving MTX. The association of MTX treatment with a decrease in DN and gamma/delta T cell levels was also confirmed in a followup study of individual patients. Among patients not receiving MTX, patients with systemic JRA presented DN T cell levels significantly higher than those of controls. In 5 patients with pauciarticular JRA DN and gamma/delta T cell levels were higher in synovial fluid than in the peripheral blood. CONCLUSIONS: We found an increase in peripheral blood DN T cell levels in systemic JRA; treatment with MTX appears to be associated with a decrease in DN and gamma/delta T cell levels.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[The Schönlein-Henoch syndrome with severe multisystemic involvement].

A case of Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) characterized by several unusual complications and exceedingly prolonged course is reported. A 6-year-old boy, hospitalized with a typical clinical picture of HSP, developed after a few days a severe gastrointestinal vasculitis leading to digestive hemorrhages and food intolerance. The treatment included continuous gastrointestinal infusion, parenteral nutrition, and corticosteroids during the exacerbations of symptoms. Intestinal ultrasonography showed diffuse submucous edema and widespread mural hematomas; hydrops of the gallbladder and edematous swelling of the pancreas were also detected. A gastro-duodenoscopy revealed diffuse and severe mucosal vasculitis with ulcers and petechial lesions. One week after admission the occurrence of weight gain, hyponatremia, and hypoprotidemia in the absence of proteinuria suggested a protein-losing enteropathy. The elevation of serum and urine amylases was consistent with pancreatic involvement. The course was characterized by recurrent exacerbations of gastrointestinal manifestations; symptoms subsided slowly to such a degree that oral feeding could be gradually restarted only seven weeks after admission. The use of high-frequency intestinal ultrasonography proved useful and sensitive in monitoring the evolution of intestinal involvement. During hospitalization the child complained of acute painful scrotal swelling. Ultrasonography showed scrotal hemorrhage and testicular swelling but no signs of testicular torsion, thus helping to avoid surgical exploration. In the recovery phase the child complained of colicky abdominal pain with vomiting. A plain abdominal roentgenogram showed bilateral staghorn pelvic urolithiasis. This finding was confirmed by an intravenous pyelography which also revealed a bilateral pyeloureteritis with edema of the ureteral wall and partial stenosis of the lumen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1992

The endoplasmic reticulum-sarcoplasmic reticulum connection: distribution of endoplasmic reticulum markers in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle fibers.

The skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) was investigated for the presence of well-known endoplasmic reticulum (ER) markers: the lumenal protein BiP and a group of membrane proteins recognized by an antibody raised against ER membrane vesicles. Western blots of SR fractions revealed the presence of BiP in fast- and slow-twitch muscles of the rabbit as well as in rat and chicken muscles. Analyses of purified SR subfractions, together with cryosection immunofluorescence and immunogold labeling, revealed BiP evenly distributed within the longitudinal SR and the terminal cisternae. Within the terminal cisternae BiP appeared not to be mixed with calsequestrin but to be distributed around the aggregates of the latter Ca2+ binding protein. Of the various membrane markers only calnexin (91 kDa) was found to be distributed within both SR subfractions, whereas the other markers (apparent molecular masses of 64 kDa and 58 kDa and a doublet around 28 kDa) were concentrated in the terminal cisternae. These results suggest that the SR is a specialized ER subcompartment in which general markers, such as the ones we have investigated, coexist with the major SR proteins specifically responsible for Ca2+ uptake, storage, and release. The differential distribution of the ER markers reveals new aspects of the SR molecular structure that might be of importance for the functioning of the endomembrane system.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Assignment of Kluyveromyces cellobiovorus nomen nudum to Candida intermedia (Ciferri & Ashford) Langeron et Guerra.

A yeast culture isolated in Japan from soil and invalidly described as Kluyveromyces cellobiovorus nom. nud. DBVPG 6286 (CBS 7153) was compared for its physiological and morphological properties and by nDNA-nDNA reassociation experiments with the type strains of several species of the genus Kluyveromyces as well as of various Candida species exhibiting similar phenotypic profiles. DBVPG 6286 was found to be conspecific with the type strain of Candida intermedia (Ciferri & Ashford) Langeron et Guerra (1938).

Candida↗
PubMed1992

Cerebral ischemia and livedo reticularis in a patient with impairment of coagulation factor VII and free protein S.

The association of ischemic cerebrovascular lesions with livedo reticularis is known as Sneddon syndrome. It affects young subjects, primarily women, and its neurological manifestations are TIAs, ischemic stroke, progressive dementia and epileptic seizures. Its etiopathogenesis has still to be clarified. Some authors have associated it with an antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. Recently it has been assumed that a defect in blood coagulation may be involved in its pathogenesis. Here we report a case in which both an increase in coagulation factor VII activity and a deficiency in free protein S were documented.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Brainstem auditory evoked potentials in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes.

Brainstem acoustic evoked potentials (BAEPs) were studied in streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats and age-matched controls at 3 and 5 months from induction of the pathology. The diabetic status of the animals was kept uncontrolled throughout the study. Body weight and glycosylated hemoglobin were markedly altered in the diabetic animals (-42%, and +120% of control values, respectively). Neurophysiological results showed an increase in the latency of the major components of BAEPs; this increase was clearly time-dependent for the peripheral component (peak I). The central component (peak IV) was also significantly delayed. However, no significant impairment of the central conduction time was demonstrated by examining the interpeak I-IV latency. In conclusion, BAEPs prove to be a useful non-invasive neurophysiological technique that may help unravel both the relative involvement of the peripheral and central nervous systems in the course of diabetes mellitus, and the evolution of diabetic neuropathy.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1992

Recurrent juvenile dermatomyositis and cutaneous necrotizing arteritis with molecular mimicry between streptococcal type 5 M protein and human skeletal myosin.

An adult patient had a syndrome associating the features of juvenile dermatomyositis and cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa that followed a cyclic course from childhood; recurrences were always associated with a rise of serum antistreptococcal antibodies. Regions of homology between streptococcal type 5 M protein and skeletal myosin were found. These findings suggest that streptococcal infection, possibly through a molecular mimicry mechanism, played a role in the pathogenesis of the disease in our patient.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1992

Comparative ototoxic potential of hyaluronic acid and methylcellulose.

In experimental animal studies, exogenous hyaluronan (HA) has been shown to exert beneficial effects on the healing of tympanic membrane perforation. As any other exogenous substance, HA may prove potentially toxic, by filling the middle ear cavity, to the sensory cells of the organ of Corti. Electrophysiological (ABR) and morphological studies were carried out in the rat to examine the auditory function and the structure of the sensory epithelium. Rats received either HA or hydroxy-propyl-methyl-cellulose by trans-tympanic injection (middle ear cavity was completely filled up) and were compared to untreated, age- and weight-matched rats. In both treated groups ABR revealed transitory, mild conduction hearing loss, in particular for high frequencies, until day 7 postinjection. This loss recovered completely within the 15th day. Morphologically, no significant degenerative/necrotic lesions were observed in the organ of Corti, from both treated groups.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Epidemiological markers of Salmonella typhimurium isolates in Rome.

The phage type, antimicrobial resistance pattern, colicinogenic activity and DNA plasmid content of 172 strains of Salmonella typhimurium isolated in Rome from 1984 to 1986 were determined; 142 isolates were from patients with enteritis, 30 were from asymptomatic subjects. Most of the phage types identified were isolated during 2 or 3 of the study years; others, e.g., PT141, PT 204c and PT 194 were isolated during 1 year only, and only the last of these was isolated in large numbers. Phage typing proved most valuable in identifying epidemiologically related strains; DNA plasmid analysis was most useful in characterising further cultures of the same phage type, especially those isolated during suspected epidemics.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗
PubMed1992

Antiphospholipid antibody associated thrombosis in juvenile chronic arthritis.

A child with systemic onset juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA) who developed a bilateral femuropopliteal vein thrombosis after plaster immobilisation following a tibial fracture is described. When the thrombosis was diagnosed, antiphospholipid antibodies detected either as lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibodies were found. This suggests that short term prophylatic antithrombotic treatment should be considered in antiphospholipid antibody positive JCA patients who require immobilisation after fractures of demineralised bones.

Antibodies, Antiphospholipid↗
PubMed1992

Menière's disease in congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus: report of two twins.

Two cases, twins, affected by congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (CNDI) with a high daily volume of dilute urine excretion and periods of compensatory high levels of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) simultaneously developed a fluctuating Menière-type hearing loss. It is well known that the kidney and the cochlea are linked by structural and anatomic characteristics, as well as by the physiologic mechanism of electrolytes and fluid regulation. The patients herein described seem to be paradoxical, because they suffered from hydropic hearing loss despite the pathophysiologic mechanism of CNDI and the possible role played by ADH in water regulation in the inner ear. The consequences on Menière's disease of the different therapeutic regimens followed by the two CNDI patients are discussed. To our knowledge these are the first cases of CNDI with Menière's disease described in the literature.

Audiometry, Pure-Tone↗
PubMed1992

Pulmonary function in childhood connective tissue diseases.

The term connective tissue diseases (CTD) defines a group of illnesses characterized by the presence of immune abnormalities and by widespread inflammation involving various organs and tissues including the lung. These diseases are not frequent in the paediatric age group. Very few data on pulmonary function are available in paediatric CTD. We investigated possible early lung function abnormalities and any likely relationship with clinical activity of the disease in a group of 81 paediatric CTD patients, without clinical or radiological evidence of pulmonary involvement. Measurement of lung volumes and diffusion lung capacity were performed. A sample of 65 subjects, defined as normal on the basis of history and clinical examination, and matched by age and height with the group of patients, was chosen as control group. CTD patients did not show significant deviations from the control distribution with respect to functional residual capacity (FRC) and maximal expiratory flow at 75% of the forced vital capacity (MEF75) values. On the contrary, both vital capacity (VC) and diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO) were quite impaired in most CTD during the active phase of the disease. Our results show a functional lung impairment in most children with clinically active CTD, even in absence of abnormalities on chest X-ray pictures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Correlation of serum interleukin-6 levels with joint involvement and thrombocytosis in systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

We measured interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in 70 serum samples obtained from 25 patients with systemic-onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), using the hybridoma cell line B9. Patients with systemic-onset JRA had significantly elevated serum IL-6 levels during active disease (mean +/- SD 92.1 +/- 75.1 hybridoma growth factor units/ml; P less than 0.00001 versus healthy age-matched controls), but not during remission. Serum IL-6 levels correlated with the extent and severity of joint involvement (P less than 0.001) and with platelet counts (P less than 0.05). Our data suggest that IL-6 plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of systemic-onset JRA.

Adolescent↗