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Biomedical subjects

A Morettini

Publications and source records attributed to A Morettini.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Comparison of cimetidine 800 mg once daily and 400 mg twice daily in acute duodenal ulceration.

A double blind trial was conducted in seven centres to evaluate the safety and efficacy of cimetidine 800 mg given at night compared with 400 mg given at breakfast and at bedtime. Altogether 197 patients with active duodenal ulcer confirmed by endoscopy entered the study, of whom 187 were eligible for analysis. After four weeks' treatment the ulcer was healed in 76 of 91 patients (84%) receiving the once daily regimen and in 65 of the 96 patients (68%) receiving the twice daily regimen (p less than 0.05). Both dosage regimens were equally effective in reducing ulcer pain and consumption of antacids. Pain relief was considerable within the first two weeks, and most of the patients were free of symptoms by the end of treatment. No patients were withdrawn because of adverse events as these were few and mild, consistent with the proved safety profile of cimetidine. Cimetidine 800 mg given at night is as effective as 400 mg twice daily; the single dose regimen may improve patient compliance, thus facilitating treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Efficacy of mexiletine in the medium-term treatment of ventricular arrhythmias. A randomized, double-blind, crossover trial against placebo in ambulatory patients.

A double-blind, crossover study was designed to compare the safety and efficacy of mexiletine with that of placebo in reducing premature ventricular complexes (PVC) in ambulatory patients and to find out the dose which gives a good therapeutic response with a minimal incidence of side-effects. Twenty-six patients, who had on average 427.9 PVCs/hour, were admitted to the study. The doses given were designed to reduce the frequency of PVCs by 50% or more from the baseline value. Two out of the twenty-six patients stopped treatment because of major side-effects. In the remaining twenty-four patients the 3 weeks of treatment with mexiletine significantly reduced the rate of PVCs by comparison with placebo (-63.8% versus +7.5%). In the nineteen responders (per cent reduction of PVCs over 50%) the dose of mexiletine was 600 mg daily (200 mg every 8 hours). In the non-responders plasma levels of mexiletine proved to be in the therapeutic range, not in any way different from responders. The most frequent side-effects were digestive difficulties (fifteen patients taking mexiletine and six taking placebo). These results show that mexiletine is an effective anti-arrhythmic drug in the management of ventricular arrhythmias occurring in ambulatory patients. In the majority of patients mexiletine was found to be effective even at the lowest dose studied of 600 mg/day.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

[Arrhythmogenic dysplasia of the right ventricle. Description of a case].

A 43 year old man was admitted to our Clinic because of recurrent episodes of palpitation. The electrocardiogram showed incomplete right bundle branch block, frequent ventricular extrasystoles with left bundle branch block morphology and negative T waves in the precordial leads. Two dimensional echocardiography showed marked right ventricular dilatation and right ventricular radionuclide angiography located the enlargment in the infundibulum. Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia was then suspected. Cardiac angiography excluded the other most common causes of right ventricular dilatation and confirmed the diagnosis. Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia should thus be regarded as a possible cause of ventricular arrhythmias of unknown etiology.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

A study of the antihypertensive effect and some pharmacodynamic aspects of nifedipine in medium-term treatment.

The antihypertensive activity of nifedipine in medium-term treatment has been studied in 30 patients affected by II and III WHO grade essential hypertension. After a 6-day period of placebo, patients were randomly allotted to group A (treated with single 10-mg doses of nifedipine) and group B (treated with single 20-mg doses). Treatment with nifedipine continued for 18 days. Patients in both groups were given one daily dose during the first 6 days, two daily doses in the following 6 days and three daily doses in the last 6 days. 1. Antihypertensive effect: In both groups, only three daily doses gave a satisfactory 24-hour antihypertensive activity. Nifedipine as monotherapy administered in single doses of both 10 mg (group A) and 20 mg (group B) normalized blood pressure (BP) and the measured antihypertensive effect was not statistically different in the two groups. The antihypertensive effect lasted between 7 and 8 hours after drug administration (both doses) and did not diminish with increasing duration of treatment or number of daily doses. 2. Change in heart rate: Nifedipine induced an increase in HR which diminished with shortening of the time interval between daily administrations. The effect on HR was unaltered throughout the whole experimental period. 3. Side-effects: Nifedipine did not induce orthostatic hypotension in any patient. Eleven of the 30 patients complained of side-effects, the most common being headache and palpitations. Incidence and severity of side-effects were not correlated with dose, whereas duration was longer with 20 mg. Side-effects never necessitated withdrawal of the drug.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Reduced prostacyclin production in patients with different manifestations of ischemic heart disease.

Prostacyclin, a substance produced by vessel wall, has a sustained vasodilating and platelet antiaggregating activity and therefore the variations in its production in patients with ischemic heart disease are of interest. Prostacyclin production was assessed in 59 patients with ischemic heart disease and 59 control subjects matched for age, sex, body weight, smoking habits, blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels. Of the 59 patients examined, 23 had had a myocardial infarction 3 to 12 months earlier; 21 had had spontaneous angina and 15 effort angina for at least 3 months. Patients with myocardial infarction and spontaneous angina were also classified in subgroups with and without acute coronary insufficiency, according to the occurrence of ischemic attacks in the week preceding the study. Both circulating prostacyclin levels and prostacyclin produced after 3 minutes of ischemia were measured by bioassay. Circulating prostacyclin was significantly less in patients with ischemic heart disease than in matched control subjects independent of the clinical type of ischemic heart disease. Circulating prostacyclin was particularly reduced in patients with acute coronary insufficiency in comparison to patients without, both in the group with myocardial infarction (1.11 +/- 0.22 ng/ml and 2.09 +/- 1.32, respectively) and in the group with spontaneous angina (1.24 +/- 0.42 and 2.17 +/- 1.16, respectively). No differences could be found for prostacyclin produced after 3 minutes of ischemia in relation to the presence of acute coronary insufficiency. The lower level of prostacyclin production in patients with ischemic heart disease and especially in those with acute coronary insufficiency may be an important factor in the occurrence of coronary occlusion or spasm.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Enhanced prostacyclin production by dipyridamole in man.

The effects of some phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors (dipyridamole, theophylline, papaverine and SH-869) on prostacyclin (PGI2) production have been studied in vitro and in vivo. PGI2 was bioassayed by Vane's superfusion technique. In rabbit aortic rings, only dipyridamole in concentrations from 1 to 12 microM was able to stimulate PGI2 biosynthesis in a dose-dependent manner. This effect was also detected with so-called "exhausted" rabbit aortic rings. The other PDE inhibitors used, both in microM and mM concentration, did not affect PGI2 biosynthesis. Dipyridamole was found to increase PGI2 production in healthy volunteers, when given both by infusion (8 micrograms/kg/min x 2h) and by oral administration (375 mg/day for seven days). Circulating PGI2 and PGI2 production induced by a 3-min period of ischaemia were increased by an average of 137% (p less than 0.001) and 30.8% (p less than 0.001) respectively. Saline and theophylline (as aminophylline) infusions used as controls did not affect PGI2 production.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Comparison between neomycin and lactulose in 173 patients with hepatic encephalopathy: a randomized clinical study.

A randomized study was performed in order to compare the course of hepatic encephalopathy in patients treated with neomycin plus magnesium sulfate or with lactulose. Admission criteria were: morphological diagnosis of cirrhosis and absence of comorbidity, of contraindications to drugs, or of previous treatments which could influence the outcome. The treatment groups were similar in terms of clinical characteristics, fatalities, recovery rate from grade 1 encephalopathy, and disappearance rate of neuropsychiatric signs. Transitions from severe to grade 1 or 0 encephalopathy showed a 0.17 (NS) difference in favor of neomycin. Early therapy and evidence of precipitating factors showed a favorable prognostic significance. Ascites, hyperbilirubinemia, poor nutritional state, and hypoprothrombinemia showed bad prognostic significance. This is the first large-scale investigation on hepatic encephalopathy. It demonstrated a similar effectiveness of the two drugs in grade 1 encephalopathy and provides a basis for drug selection in the current management of the syndrome.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗