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Biomedical subjects

C Mattia

Publications and source records attributed to C Mattia.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Troponin I as a biomarker of cardiac injury in neonates with idiopathic respiratory distress.

Troponin I (TnI), an inhibitory protein complex located on the actin filament of cardiac muscle, has become a specific marker of myocardial damage. Troponin has been studied in a wide range of clinical settings. However, many questions are still unanswered, especially in preterm neonates with the most common pathology at birth, such as idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome (IRDS). The aim of this study was to establish a reference range for cardiac TnI for healthy preterm infants and serum levels in sick preterm infants with IRDS. Echocardiography was performed and TnI serum levels were measured at a median age of 62 hours of life in three groups of healthy preterm infants (n = 10), and ventilated infants with moderate (n = 15) and severe IRDS (n = 15). Ventilated infants with idiopathic moderate IRDS had significantly different cardiac parameters (R/L ejection fraction, R/L stroke volume, R/L cardiac output; p < 0.05) and significantly higher cardiac TnI levels than healthy infants (0.037 versus 0.01 microg/mL; p < 0.05). Furthermore, infants with severe IRDS had higher TnI concentrations than infants with moderate IRDS (0.26 versus 0.037 microg/mL; p < 0.05). The results of this study show that increased TnI serum levels in sick preterm infants with IRDS are explained by myocardial injury or dysfunction due to impaired arterial oxygenation or reduction in cardiac output during treatment with mechanical ventilation. These results suggest that cardiac TnI may be a useful, specific marker for myocardial damage in preterm neonates with IRDS.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed2005

[Cerebral venous sinuses thrombosis in an infant with supramitral obstructive membrane associated with partial anomalous pulmonary venous return].

Cerebral venous thrombosis is quite rare in newborn infants, but probably its incidence is not well evaluated because clinical signs and cerebral echocardiography are not specific. We report the case of an newborn infant with massive cerebral venous thrombosis associated with heart malformation: supramitral ring and partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection in the superior vena cava.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Tramadol. Focus on musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain.

In the light of the most recent acquisitions published in the international literature, this review analyzes the pharmacologic features and modes of use of tramadol, one of the most widely used, on a worldwide scale, analgesic agents in acute and chronic pain of moderate to severe intensity. The action of the 2 enantiomers of tramadol--which exert different pharmacologic effects--and of metabolite M1, is differentiated. The global activity of tramadol results from the sum of their specific actions. Data of kinetics show a very high oral bioavailability and the sustained-release (SR) formulations assure a 24-h coverage through the constant blood levels. Data reported in the relevant literature show that tramadol is effective in the treatment of arthrosic and neuropathic pain, with a value of Number Needed to Treat (NNT) of 3.4, and in the mixed nociceptive-neuropathic pain, especially in persistent or chronic pain. Moreover, tramadol maintains a good tolerability profile in the elderly subjects and a good analgesic efficacy in the long-term treatments with reduced pharmacological interactions and a low incidence of constipation. These global features assured its inclusion into the most recent guidelines on the management of chronic pain. Furthermore, data from literature showed that tramadol is devoid of immunosuppressive activity, has a poor tendency to tolerance and a minimum risk of addiction and abuse.

Analgesics, Opioid↗
PubMed2005

Subclinical cardiological involvement in Sicilian patients with pure congenital muscular dystrophy.

AIM: Congenital muscular dystrophies (CMD) are a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by a marked weakness, generalized hypotonia, joint contractures and a muscle biopsy suggestive of dystrophic changes. The aim of this study has been to assess the prevalence of heart involvement in merosin-positive CMD patients examined by echocardiography and Doppler. METHODS: A total of 10 merosin-positive CMD patients and 100 healthy children were evaluated by echocardiography and Doppler examinations and the results were compared. RESULTS: Three out of 10 patients showed a reduction of the ejection fraction and of the shortening fraction; in 1 case, a dilatation of left ventricular diastolic diameter was observed. CONCLUSIONS: In the 10 patients examined by echocardiography and Doppler, a heart involvement has been observed in 25% of cases.

Child↗
PubMed2005

[Transient right ventricular hypertrophy in a newborn infant exposed in utero to nimesulide].

The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) during pregnancy has been sometimes related to harmful cardiac effects secondary to the precocious closure in uterus of ductus arteriosus. This closure is linked to the inhibition of the cyclo-oxygenase (COX) enzyme that plays a key-role in the prostaglandin synthesis. Recently, it has been acquired that, among NSAIDs, nimesulide has a more selective action on the isoform COX-2 that is more strictly related to inflammatory phenomena. The isoform COX-1, instead, steadily expressed in tissues, would be responsible of continuous prostaglandin synthesis maintaining patent the ductus arteriosus in uterus. The case reported in this paper describes a remarkable right ventricle hypertrophy observed in a newborn whose mother, during the whole period of pregnancy, frequently used nimesulide as analgesic. Probably, in spite of its selective action on COX-2, the prolonged use of nimesulide has determined a closure of the ductus, inducing a functional fetal pulmonary hypertension that resolved after birth with the consequent regression of the right ventricular hypertrophy.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal↗
PubMed2002

New antidepressants in the treatment of neuropathic pain. A review.

Before 1980s, tricyclics (TCAs) were considered, between antidepressants, the standard in the treatment of different kinds of neuropathic pain, for their action on noradrenergic and serotoninergic pathways, thought the high incidence of side effects. In 1980s a new class of antidepressants has been introduced, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). We reviewed some publications, including trials comparing SSRIs with TCAs in pain management. The available literature did not show an effective superiority of the former on the latter, though improved side-effect profile. Recently new antidepressants were introduced in the clinical use, with a significant reduction in side effects and equivalent efficacy on mood disorders. These new drugs may be classified in three categories: Serotonin and Noradrenergic Reuptake Inhibitors (SNaRI), like venlafaxine and nefazodone; Noradrenergic and Specific Serotoninergic Antidepressants (NaSSA), like mirtazapine, and Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors (NaRI), like reboxetine. In this review we present the available publications of their application in the treatment of neuropathic pain. Venlafaxine (SNaRI), the most investigated of these new drugs, was shown to be effective in the treatment of different kinds of pain, with side-effects profile significantly better than TCAs. The other new antidepressants have been less extensively studied, thus only anecdotal therapeutic results and experimental works have been found and reported. Existing data are surely insufficient to conclude which of these new classes of drugs has the best clinical profile and can be more effective in the treatment of neuropathic pain, but the lower incidence of side effects should be considered. Further evidence-based research in the safety and efficacy of these promising agents in pain relief, is warranted.

Analgesics, Non-Narcotic↗
PubMed2001

[Cardiac involvement in Kawasaki disease. Our experience].

BACKGROUND: Kawasaki disease is an acute vasculitis of unknown cause that affects children under 5 years of age and in 20-25% of cases can cause coronary artery anomalies. Early therapy with intravenous gamma globulin and aspirin greatly decreases the risk of developing coronary anomalies, but sometimes coronary disease develops even in timely diagnosed and treated cases. METHODS: Personal experience in 41 children with Kawasaki disease is reported. Age was within three months and 5 years. All patients had electrocardiography and echocardiography at diagnosis, after 1 week, at the third, sixth, and eighth week, after six months and after 1 year from diagnosis. Echocardiographic cardiac anomalies were found only in 5 cases (12.19%). Average age in these cases was lower. RESULTS: In these cases coronary involvement developed in spite of early diagnosis and therapy (intravenous gamma globulin 400 mg/kg die and aspirin) electrocardiographic findings were not relevant or specific to coronary arteries anomaly. In three cases coronary anomalies regressed during the first year from diagnosis, the other two are still in the first year of follow-up. Nine children had a long term follow-up (6 to 9 years) and they were all normal except one with renal arteritis and another with slight mitral incompetence. CONCLUSIONS: The authors underline the role of clinical and instrumental follow-up that should be extended to all patients affected by Kawasaki disease with coronary anomalies even if early regressed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1993

[Echo-guided percutaneous celiac plexus block with alcohol with an anterior approach].

The authors report the use of ultrasound as a guide to the execution of celiac plexus alcoholization with the anterior approach. Five patients with severe pain resistant to pharmacologic treatment with NSAID, cortisone and morphine have been treated. Once found out the celiac trunk and the best direction, using ultrasound, the needle is advanced slowly beyond the anterior lateral wall of the aorta, in order to recognize the tip with the same ultrasound response of the retroperitoneal tissue. After calculating the distance between the celiac trunk and the needle tip, this is withdrawn in order to be set in the alcoholization point of injection. No complication directly related to the technique has been observed in the five patients. Pain relief was optimal in four out of five patients and was kept until the exitus.

Celiac Plexus↗
PubMed1992

Early prediction of successful weaning during pressure support ventilation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine variables for early prediction of successful weaning in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients during pressure support ventilation weaning. DESIGN: Thirteen COPD patients were prospectively studied to compare the respiratory pattern (inspiratory time, expiratory time, total breath cycle duration, tidal volume, respiratory rate, minute ventilation), the respiratory drive (airway occlusion pressure at 0.1 sec, tidal volume/inspiratory time), and blood gases after 30 mins of pressure support weaning. SETTING: The study was performed in the 20-bed General Critical Care Unit of the Rome "La Sapienza" University Hospital. PATIENTS: We evaluated 13 consecutive COPD patients fulfilling the standard weaning criteria (including clinical status, blood gases, forced vital capacity, maximum inspiratory pressure, and spontaneous respiratory rate after a 30-min T-piece trial) in which we compared respiratory pattern, respiratory drive, and blood gases after 30 mins of pressure support weaning. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: After 30 mins of pressure support ventilation weaning (pressure support level 20 cm H2O), we measured respiratory pattern (airway pressure and airflow tracing), airway occlusion pressure at 0.1 sec (occluding the inspiratory line during expiration with a rubber balloon), tidal volume/inspiratory time, maximal inspiratory pressure, and blood gases. According to the result of the weaning trial, the patients were divided into two groups (not weaned and weaned), and the statistical difference between the evaluated variables was analyzed in weaned and not weaned groups. We did not observe a significant difference in breathing pattern data and arterial blood gases between weaned and not weaned patients. By contrast, airway occlusion pressure at 0.1 sec and maximum inspiratory pressure measured after 30 mins of weaning trial appeared significantly (p less than .001) different in patients in whom the weaning trial succeeded or failed. Considering maximum inspiratory pressure, we could not separate weaned from not weaned patients, while all patients showing values of airway occlusion pressure at 0.1 sec less than 4.5 cm H2O were easily weaned. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that conventional weaning criteria are often inadequate in predicting successful weaning of COPD patients, while airway occlusion pressure at 0.1 sec during the first phase of pressure support ventilation weaning can represent a good weaning predictor.

Aged↗