Biomedical subjects

B Pozzetto

Publications and source records attributed to B Pozzetto.

118 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

[Pancreatic cystadenoma: report of 2 clinical cases and review of the literature].

The Authors present two rare cases of pancreatic serous cystadenomas. Preoperative diagnosis of these neoplasms is very difficult despite the routine use of echotomography and CT, because the definitive diagnosis is provided only by histological examination of the surgical specimen. General agreement exists as to surgical indication. Surgical tactics depend on tumour localization: duodenocephalopancreatectomy for tumours of the head of the pancreas, and distal pancreatectomy for tumours located in the tail, as can be seen from a review of the recent literature. In both cases reported, the neoplasm was located in the pancreatic body. The treatment consisted in distal pancreatectomy. Splenectomy was necessary only in one of the two cases. During the follow-up the first patient died after 11 years without relapse. The second died 10 months postoperatively of an undifferentiated low rectal cancer. CT scans and sequential laparotomy showed no local relapse of the pancreatic tumours.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Primary hyperparathyroidism: diagnostic and therapeutic trends].

The most interesting aspects of parathyroid disease are the increased incidence of primary hyperparathyroidism, which nowadays is diagnosed more and more frequently through the casual discovery of hypercalcaemia, the various diagnostic methodologies used, the ongoing debate as to the function of parathyroidectomy in asymptomatic patients and the new video-assisted surgical techniques which have recently been developed. The authors retrospectively review 31 consecutive cases of primary hyperparathyroidism. The clinical onset was characterised in 26 cases by an osteoarthralgic syndrome associated with renal and biliary pathology. Five cases were asymptomatic. Prior to surgery, all patients underwent both biochemical and instrumental tests. MIB scintigraphy was found to yield the most reliable diagnosis, leading to identification of 83.6% of diseased parathyroids. As regards surgical treatment, 29 cases were treated with a simple parathyroidectomy, 1 with a bilateral inferior parathyroidectomy and 1 with a thyroid lobectomy. Associated thyroid surgery was performed in 8 cases for concomitant thyroid disease: 1 total thyroidectomy, 2 subtotal thyroidectomies and 5 lobectomies. In 3 cases radioimmunoguided surgery was used. There were no cases of mortality, and 9.6% of patients presented specific morbidity characterised by some degree of paraesthesia. As stated by other researchers, the authors argue that MIBI scintigraphy is the most reliable test for the diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism and that surgical treatment is the first choice for symptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism. The surgical strategy depends on the abnormality underlying the hyperparathyroidism: in the event off an adenoma, a bilateral exploration of the neck and removal of the diseased parathyroid are required; in the case of hyperplasia, a subtotal parathyroidectomy is necessary with marking of the residual parathyroid which will simplify any possible reoperation; in the event of carcinoma, a thyroid loboisthmectomy and ipsilateral parathyroidectomy are performed with removal of the fatty tissue of the antero-superior mediastinum and ipsilateral cervical functional lymphadenectomy.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Model of coxsackievirus B3 persistent infection in orally-inoculated BALB/c mouse].

Many mouse models of human enterovirus disease have been pro- posed, concerning both acute and persistent infection. However, rather paradoxically since the usual way of contamination is fecal-oral, most of them used a systemic route of infection. The aim of the present work was to follow the development of an experimental enterovirus infection and to study the viral persistence at the organ level. Twenty-eight female 3-week old BALB/c mice were infected with 5 x 10(4) TCID(50) of coxsackievirus B3 (CV-B3), Nancy strain, by oral route using a rigid cannula introduced into the stomach. The kinetics of infection was studied by sacrificing 2 animals at different times post infection (from 1 hour to 90 days). The presence of the virus in various organs (small intestine, heart, pancreas, lung, spleen, kidney, liver) was studied by cell culture and RT-PCR. As soon as one hour post infection, the virus was detected in the small intestine. In the heart, the virus was present at 24 and 48 hours post infection by RT-PCR and culture, respectively. At 5 days post infection, all the organs but the liver were found infected. The virus was detected up to 15 days in kidney, 21 days in pancreas, 30 days in lung and spleen, and 45 days in intestine, by both culture and PCR. The heart was still found infected 90 days post infection by both techniques. These results show the dramatic cardiotropism of CV-B3 inoculated by oral route, with a detection of the virus very soon in the course of infection (24 hours) and a persistence of the virus for more than 3 months. The intestine, the initial target of enterovirus infection, can also be considered as a site of viral persistence.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Investigation of an outbreak of norovirus gastroenteritis in a geriatric hospital].

In aged-care facilities, gastroenteritis outbreaks are responsible for big trouble in the management of cares to the elderly. In November 2002, a gastroenteritis outbreak was observed in 5 of the 6 wards of the geriatric hospital La Charité, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, France, with an attack rate of 38.5% in the elderly (70 infected from 182 patients) and of 26.0% in the nursing staff (40 infected from 154 agents). The outbreak lasted 30 days with a peak corresponding to 79.8% of the cases between the 11(th) and the 20(th) of November. The first cases were observed in the two short-term-care wards; then, the outbreak spread rapidly to 3 of the 4 long-term care units. Health care workers were contaminated later than the elderly (P < 0.001 by Kruskal-Wallis test). A self-administered questionnaire was documented by most of the nursing staff; the most frequently observed clinical symptoms in this population were nausea (82.5%), abdominal pain (80.0%), diarrhoea (70.5%), asthenia (67.5%) and vomiting (62.5%). Thirty-five percent of the health care workers ceased their work. The causative agent of the gastroenteritis was identified by RT-PCR in the stools of 5 aged persons as a norovirus close to the Lordsdale strain (genogroup II). These findings illustrate the respective role of elderly and health care workers in the spread of the gastroenteritis outbreak inside the geriatric hospital.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Prevalence of hepatitis G virus among Tunisian blood donors].

Prevalence of hepatitis G virus among Tunisian blood donors Hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) is a recently identified virus which occurs worldwide. The prevalence of GBV-C/HGV in Tunisia has not been previously studied. We aimed to assess the prevalence of GBV-C/HGV infection in Tunisian blood donors. A total of 912 blood donors were tested for anti-E2 antibodies of GBV-C/HGV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and 600 were tested by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. GBV-C/HGV RNA was found in 5.3% of the sample and HGV antibodies occurred in 4.9%. A correlation was noticed between GBV-C/HGV infection and hepatitis C virus (P = 0.006). The prevalence of GBV-C/HGV is similar to that reported worldwide.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Tolerance of influenza vaccination in the aged and the nursing staff in a geriatric hospital].

The tolerance of influenza vaccination (Vaxigrip, Pasteur-Mérieux) was evaluated during four consecutive years (1989-1992) in the geriatric hospital of Saint-Etienne from questionnaires concerning 327 vaccinations in the aged (group 1) and 88 vaccinations in members of the nursing staff (group 2). Minor local symptoms were the more common incidents, respectively for each group: blotch (9.8 and 21.6%), pain (9.2 and 47.7%), nodule (2.4 and 13.6%). Fatigue (4.0 vs 12.5%) and fever (6.1 vs 4.5%) were the more frequent among general symptoms, respectively in each group. No major vaccinal accident was recorded. These results underline that influenza vaccination is well tolerated, much more in aged people than in members of the nursing staff.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The latest on enteroviruses in human pathology].

Enteroviruses are small RNA viruses belonging to the Picornaviridae family. At least 65 serotypes have been described, including polioviruses, coxsackieviruses A and B, echoviruses and unclassified enteroviruses. Because of the absence of envelope they are relatively resistant to physical and chemical agents. They are mainly transmitted by the oral-fecal mode, but respiratory and mucosal transmissions are also possible. In humans, enteroviruses have been involved in miscellaneous acute infections and more recently in persistent infections (chronic meningoencephalitis in agammaglobulinemic patients, post-polio syndrome, chronic myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus...). Hypotheses in the relation between enterovirus persistence and chronic infections are formulated. The virological diagnosis of enterovirus infections is discussed, with a special focus on genomic application techniques (PCR) that are renewing the interest for this family of viruses in clinical pathology. If the role of enteroviruses in chronic pathologies is confirmed, the development of new therapeutic approaches (including vaccines and antiviral agents) will be needed.

Enterovirus↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Spigelio's hernia: presentation of 2 clinical cases and review of the literature].

The authors present two cases of Spigelian hernia. The patients underwent surgery, in one case with urgency modality. They repaired surgically both hernias, by a plastic of the abdominal wall. Neither postoperative mortality, nor morbidity have been observed. On follow-up, they didn't observe any relapse. Nevertheless the extreme rarity of the Spigelian hernia, the authors believe that this pathology must be considered among the different causes of the partial intestinal obstruction or acute abdomen. The diagnosis can be performed both by the simple clinical examination and by instrumental devices. Ultrasonography seems to be the most specific and the less invasive one. Recently laparoscopic approach has been emphasized; it allows to reach the diagnosis and to treat the hernia at the same time. However the authors remark that traditional surgery remains the most effective treatment.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Treatment of chronic pancreatitis today: considerations on 133 observed cases].

Aim of the work is to define the present role of surgery in the treatment of chronic pancreatitis and the criteria of choice of procedures. The authors examined retrospectively 133 patients. They analyze the clinical, laboratory and instrumental features on which has been formulated the surgical indications. Patients treated surgically were those who have intractable pain, jaundice, intestinal obstructions and bleeding. The choice of the procedure is based on the seat and type of the anatomo-pathological lesions and on the features of Wirsung's duct. 54 of the 133 patients observed have been treated surgically or with interventional radiology. The authors carried out 19 resections, 30 drainage procedures, 1 pancreatic biopsy, 2 percutaneous drainage, 1 perendoscopic papillotomy. Neither mortality nor morbidity were observed after radiological and endoscopic procedures, while after surgery we observed 3.9% of mortality and 9.4 of total morbidity and 5.6% of specific morbidity, represented by a pancreatic leakage. The long term results were well in the patients who didn't take on alcohol. In conclusion the authors underline that the progresses of the medical treatment and the radiological and endoscopic procedures imply the decrease of number of patients undergoing surgical intervention. They remind that surgery maintain his importance and, when carried out with correct indications, permits to obtain an effective and lasting result of the symptomatology presented by the patient.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Results of surgical treatment in Cushing syndrome].

The authors report 10 cases of hypercortisolism studied at University's Surgical Clinic of Trieste (Italy). Comparing their results to the recent Literature, they observe the highly reliability of the instrumental and laboratory investigations to achieve an accurate preoperative diagnosis. The effectiveness of surgical therapy evinces not only from absence of surgical mortality and morbility, but also from optimal results of follow-up: all patients, in fact, heal completely in few weeks or months.

Adrenalectomy↗