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Biomedical subjects

A Versari

Publications and source records attributed to A Versari.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Age differences in contingent negative variation activity of healthy young adults and presenile subjects.

20 selected right-handed very healthy subjects (10 young adults and 10 presenile subjects mean age 28.3 and 59.6) were tested for CNV activity with a simple warned reaction time (RT) paradigm. EEG and CNV components (post-S1, N1, P2, P3; early CNV; N1200; late CNV; CNV resolution) were recorded from Fz, C3, Cz, C4, P3, Pz, and P4 referenced to linked mastoid electrodes. EOG, RT and stimuli were also recorded. The presenile group differed significantly from the younger group in the auditory post-S1 N1 and P3, and in the early (O-wave) and late (P-wave) CNV complex components. A progressive amplitude reduction only in frontal leads between O-wave and P-wave with the lowest point being reached in the P-wave was characteristic in the presenile group. Further, presenile subjects showed relatively flat CNV waveshapes of low amplitude and, as a whole, performed a little less well than young persons. This finding suggests that the statistically significant changes in post-S1 EPRs and CNV activity recorded in our presenile subjects, without appreciable deficits in behavioral and mental performance, could be alerting signs of early brain involutional processes related to minimal and subclinical decrement of orienting, attentiveness and response preparation capabilities. If such is the case and it could be confirmed in a larger sample of very healthy subjects, these age-related changes in the presenium could be of considerable practical importance for clinical and research applications.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Contingent negative variation and reaction time in patients with presenile idiopathic cognitive decline and presenile Alzheimer-type dementia. Preliminary report on long-term nicergoline treatment.

Up to date 6 patients with initial presenile idiopathic cognitive decline (PICD) and 5 suffering from a presenile Alzheimer-type dementia (PAD) with a mean age of 59.5 were admitted to the trial. The 6 PICD patients were assigned to a double-blind nicergoline/placebo 6-month course with an oral dose of 30 mg twice a day. PAD patients were treated in an open design (nicergoline oral dose 30 mg twice a day) for at least 6 months. Until now only 4 PICD and 3 PAD patients have been treated regularly for 6 months. Two of 4 PICD patients showed a progressive enhancement of contingent negative variation (CNV), shorter reaction time (RT) and an improvement of clinical status. The other 2 PICD patients, on the contrary, showed a progressive mild worsening of CNV-RT and clinical patterns. The double-blind trial is not yet completed. CNV activity, RTs and clinical patterns progressively improved also in 2 PAD patients while in the 3rd they remained nearly unchanged or minimally worse during the 6-month treatment. The positive nicergoline effect on CNV-RT and clinical status noted in our patients appeared similar to that observed by other authors with DHEMT in patients with senile dementia of Alzheimer type. No adverse drug-related reactions were seen.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1985

Bone scintigraphy in the diagnosis of pulmonary calcification in multiple myeloma.

We present a case of multiple myeloma in which pulmonary calcification was clinically shown by bone scintigraphy and subsequently confirmed at autopsy. It is suggested that, in patients with myeloma, radionuclide bone scanning may be of value for differentiating deposits in the lung due to calcification from those due to other types of pulmonary infiltration revealed by chest X-rays. A thorough review of the relevant literature is presented.

Bone and Bones↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Post-treatment residual tissue in idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis: active residual disease or silent "scar" ? A study using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography.

OBJECTIVE: Medical treatment is often effective in idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis (IRF) but frequently leads to residual retroperitoneal masses that may represent active disease or simply consist of inactive fibrotic tissue. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging modality that reliably assesses disease activity in a number of inflammatory diseases including IRF. We used 18F-FDG PET to evaluate the metabolic activity of residual masses in a series of IRF patients. METHODS: We studied 7 consecutive IRF patients, all of whom presented constitutional symptoms and/or pain, and had high acute-phase reactant levels; 6 had ureteral involvement. IRF was diagnosed by means of computed tomography (CT), which revealed a peri-aortoiliac mass in all cases. Three patients underwent surgical ureterolysis and 2 received ureteral stents. Subsequently, 5 patients received prednisone, one sequential treatment with prednisone and tamoxifen, and one prednisolone plus methotrexate. All of the patients underwent 18F-FDG PET at varying times after the end of treatment. RESULTS: The presenting signs/symptoms improved in all patients and the levels of acute-phase reactants significantly decreased or normalised. Ureteral obstructive disease resolved in all cases. Post-treatment CT revealed a considerable reduction in the amount of IRF but all of the patients had a residual retroperitoneal mass. PET revealed slight aorto-iliac 18F-FDG uptake in only one patient; all of the others were negative. No patient relapsed during the follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Post-treatment residual masses are frequent in IRF patients but, in most cases, probably represent metabolically inactive tissue.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of N parameter in the staging of non-small cell lung cancer: role of CT and PET.

PURPOSE: To determine diagnostic accuracy of CT and FDG-PET for the evaluation of N status in non-small cell lung cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-eight CT scans and PET scans of patients with non small-cell lung cancer were retrospectively reviewed. The data of the noninvasive techniques about N status were compared with the pathology findings obtained by standard lymphadenectomy. RESULTS: The CT results were concordant with surgery in 24 out of 38 cases (63%); in discordant cases CT understaged 8 patients and overstaged 6. The PET images were concordant with surgery in 29 cases (76%); of the remaining 9, PET understaged 5 cases and overstaged 4. Concerning the N parameter, CT had a sensitivity of 42.8% and a specificity of 83.3%, while PET had a sensitivity of 71.4% and a specificity of 91.6%. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience the diagnostic accuracy of PET is superior to that of CT, in agreement with the most important studies in the literature. On only one occasion did PET fail to differentiate between hilar uptake (N1) and the central primary tumour, an area in which CT provided more precise anatomic details. Nonetheless, we believe that PET should be performed in all patients affected by lung cancer, with the only exception of patients shown to be not suitable for surgery after CT examination.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Myocardial perfusion visualized with SPECT: three-dimensional representation].

A recently developed computer program for three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of SPECT images has been employed to study myocardial perfusion in coronaropathic patients using MIBI-99mTc or 201Tl chloride. By subtracting after-stress from at-rest 3D reconstructed images, even small ischemic lesions could be located in the myocardium, with good morphological definition. The general characteristics of the method and some clinical results are here presented.

Adult↗