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Biomedical subjects

D Delis

Publications and source records attributed to D Delis.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Treatment of paediatric visceral leishmaniasis: amphotericin B or pentavalent antimony compounds?

Pentavalent antimony compounds and amphotericin B lipid formulations have been found highly active for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. This study focuses on which treatment is preferable in the best interests of the child. Records were reviewed of children in our hospital aged 0-14 years, diagnosed with visceral leishmaniasis, during the last 4 years. Twenty-nine children were identified. Ten were treated with meglumine antimonate (20 mg/kg/day for 21 days) and remained in hospital for 11-28 days (median 19 days), while 19 patients received liposomal amphotericin B at four different dosage schemes and were in hospital for 6-11 days (median 7 days). All of the patients were cured regardless of the treatment regime they followed. No relapses were noted. Liposomal amphotericin B would be preferable to meglumine antimonate if the reduction in hospital stay and hence the convenience of the patient balance the cost of medication. The optimal duration of treatment with liposomal amphotericin B remains to be determined.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

A Phase II study of docetaxel and carboplatin in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

We investigated the efficacy of docetaxel (D) in combination with carboplatin (C) in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Since 1996, 123 with inoperable NSCLC were enrolled in the study; 120 (108 males, 12 females; mean age 58.0+/-8.3 years) were evaluated. Of those, 46 patients had squamous carcinoma, 44 adenocarcinoma, 11 large cell carcinoma and 19 undifferentiated tumours. Eligibility criteria included, documented inoperable NSCLC, WHO performance status (PS) 0-1, age up to 70 years, and normal renal and hepatic function. A total of 622 cycles of chemotherapy (CHT) (median 7 (95% CI 6.2-7.47), courses per patient) were administered. Each cycle consisted of 100 mg/m(2) of docetaxel in a 2-h infusion with C at a dose of area under the curve (AUC) of 6 on day 1. This regimen was repeated every 28 days up to eight cycles. Of the patients, five (4%) achieved complete response, 49 (40%) partial response, 47 (39%) had stable disease and 19 (15%) had progressive disease. The median survival was 12 months for all patients, 12 for the four patients with stage IIb disease, 18 for the patients with stage IIIa disease, 20 for the 29 patients with stage IIIb disease, and 11 for the 65 stage IV patients. The median time to progression was 8 months (90 patients). Toxicity was, grade 3/4 neutropenia, 18 patients (15%); grade 3/4 anaemia, 6 patients (5%); and tolerable peripheral neuropathy, 16 patients (13.3%). Responders received radiotherapy (total dose, 50 Gy in 4 weeks) between the 6th and 8th cycle. Among responders with initial stage IIIb disease, 7 (5%) underwent surgical resection. Patients with early progression of the disease received the same dose of radiotherapy between 2nd and 3rd cycle. The study is ongoing, and six patients (5%) are still alive (after 3 years). Preliminary results indicate that the D/C combination is very active in the treatment of NSCLC with tolerable toxicity. It appears that this drug combination is also good as neoadjuvant therapy in inoperable NSCLC patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Improved memory functioning and frontal lobe maturation between childhood and adolescence: a structural MRI study.

Previous studies conducted by our group have provided evidence for age-related reductions in cortical thickness in dorsal frontal and parietal regions between childhood and adulthood, and gray matter volume increases of mesial temporal and anterior diencephalic structures. The purpose of this study was to describe neurobehavioral correlates of these brain maturational changes using morphometric analyses of brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) and two tests of cognitive abilities. Participants were 35 normal children roughly stratified by age (7 to 16 years) and sex (20 boys and 15 girls) and frontal and mesial temporal regions were anatomically defined in each subjects' MRI data. The California Verbal Learning Test-Children's Version and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test were used as measures of verbal and visuospatial memory and organizational abilities. Analyses designed to show regionally specific relationships between the brain and behavioral measures revealed interesting results. Specifically, frontal lobe gray matter thinning was more strongly predictive of delayed verbal memory functioning than was the mesial temporal lobe gray matter volume, and this relationship did not appear to be mediated by factors indexed in chronological age. Similar, but less regionally specific relationships were observed for measures of visuospatial memory abilities and frontal lobe maturation. Functional imaging studies in the literature consistently report activation in frontal regions in adults during retrieval tasks. The relationship between frontal lobe maturation and delayed recall observed here may be reflective of the children's development towards the more adult-like frontal lobe function revealed in the functional imaging studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Isepamicin versus amikacin for the treatment of acute pyelonephritis in children.

In this study we compared the efficacy and safety of isepamicin versus amikacin at a dose of 7.5 mg/kg i.v. q12h for 10-14 days in children with pyelonephritis. Sixteen children were enrolled in the study; ten received isepamicin and six amikacin. Urine cultures grew Escherichia coli in all patients. All patients were treated successfully with either isepamicin or amikacin. Clinical and bacteriological response rates were 100% for both groups. No adverse events occurred. Peak serum levels ranged from 9.05 to 30.70 mg/l (median: 16.165) and from 12.20 to 25.90 mg/l (median: 19.05) for isepamicin and amikacin, respectively. Trough serum levels ranged from 0.11 to 3.20 mg/l (median: 0.75) and from 0.1 to 2.1 mg/l (median: 0.655), respectively. Isepamicin was shown to be as effective and safe as amikacin in the treatment of children with pyelonephritis and might prove an advantageous alternative in areas with high incidence of resistance to other aminoglycosides.

Amikacin↗
PubMed1999

Global-local processing in schizophrenia: hemispheric asymmetry and symptom-specific interference.

The hypothesis of atypical functional hemispheric asymmetry in schizophrenia is tested using the directed global-local paradigm, a lateralizing measure of visual perception. Results indicate low error rates (< 2%) for schizophrenia and normal control groups, but longer response times for the schizophrenia group. In the normal group, detection speed of global and local forms did not differ. In contrast, the schizophrenia group responded significantly faster to local relative to global forms, which supports the asymmetry hypotheses of left hemisphere overactivity-right hemisphere underactivity in schizophrenia. The normal group exhibited a global interference effect (slowed response latency to the local target in the presence of a dissimilar global distractor). When the schizophrenia group was examined according to symptom type and severity, high positive symptom severity was associated with local interference (slowed response latency to the global target in the presence of dissimilar local distractors). Negative symptoms were not associated with interference from the competing local or global forms. Patients with a combination of high positive and low negative symptoms showed significantly greater local interference than patients with high negative and low positive symptoms. Interconnected temporal and frontal systems are postulated to contribute to this pattern of perceptual processing efficiency and distractibility in schizophrenia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Learning and memory in rape victims with posttraumatic stress disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Studies have shown memory deficits among combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, high rates of comorbid conditions, including alcoholism, make it difficult to definitively associate these findings with the PTSD diagnosis. In this study the authors examined memory functioning among rape survivors without alcoholism or substance abuse but with PTSD. METHOD: Rape victims with (N = 15) and without (N = 16) PTSD were compared to age- and education-matched nontraumatized comparison subjects (N = 16) on measures of learning and memory. RESULTS: The subjects with PTSD performed significantly worse than the other groups on delayed free recall. The deficits were ameliorated by cueing and recognition testing. CONCLUSIONS: Recall deficits in noncombat PTSD patients strengthen the theory that memory deficits are associated with the PTSD diagnosis. The deficits were mild and were not attributable to comorbid depression, anxiety, or substance abuse.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Genetic predisposition and IDDM in Greece.

Serological typing of HLA-DR antigens was performed on 116 patients with IDDM and 380 healthy controls. As expected a high incidence of HLA-DR3 and DR4 antigens was observed in patients with IDDM. However, the HLA-DR2 antigen, which rarely occurs in IDDM and is considered to confer protection against IDDM, was found in equal distribution (35%) in both patients and controls. HLA-DQ genotype analysis in 10 children with IDDM and 13 controls, all with the HLA-DR2 haplotype, showed that the great majority of affected children and normal controls carry the DR2 (16) or AZH-DQA1 *0102, DQB *0502 subtype. The high incidence of this subtype in normal individuals possibly explains why the DR2 antigen does not offer protection against IDDM in Greeks.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

The role of alterations in free radical metabolism in mediating cognitive impairments in Down's syndrome.

Down's syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder involving an excess of chromosome 21 (trisomy 21) in approximately 96% of the cases and comprises approximately 15% of the population with mental retardation (Heller, 1969). In addition to the constitutional mental deficiencies associated with the syndrome many DS patients develop dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in their later years of life (Thase et al., 1984). The genetic locus for Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1), a key enzyme in free radical metabolism, is located on chromosome 21, and the activity level of this enzyme is elevated by approximately 50% in a variety of cells of DS patients (see Kedziora and Bartosz, 1988; Sinet, 1982). Because alterations in free radical metabolism may be involved in neuronal death and may be associated with a number of pathological manifestations of DS, it is important to understand the role of free radical metabolism in cognitive impairments of DS, the topic discussed in this chapter.

Aging↗
PubMed1990

Subcortical abnormalities detected in bipolar affective disorder using magnetic resonance imaging. Clinical and neuropsychological significance.

Magnetic resonance imaging was utilized to determine the nature and rate of subcortical abnormalities in bipolar affective disorder. Nine of 19 bipolar patients and no controls demonstrated subcortical signal hyperintensities on blind evaluation of the images. There was no apparent change in the appearance of the hyperintensities in 7 of 7 subjects with abnormal magnetic resonance images who underwent repeated imaging at 1 year. Bipolar patients with abnormalities had a history of more hospitalizations and appeared more impaired on tests of fluency and recall when compared with bipolar patients without abnormalities or with controls. The possible etiology and significance of signal hyperintensities in bipolar affective disorder is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Seeing either the forest or the trees: dissociation in visuospatial processing.

Traditionally, visuospatial processing has resisted fractionation into functional substrates. Recently, however, it has been shown that the brain honors the distinction between global and local processing of hierarchical visual stimuli: unilateral left hemisphere brain-damaged subjects were impaired in their ability to draw the local forms of a hierarchical design, whereas right hemisphere-damaged patients demonstrated the opposite pattern (Delis, Robertson, & Efron, 1986; Delis, Kiefner, & Fridlund, 1988). The present study reports a similar pronounced dissociation in hierarchical visual processing but in quite different populations and in the absence of focal structural brain damage. Mentally retarded subjects with Williams Syndrome are considerably more impaired in global relative to local analysis, whereas subjects with Down Syndrome display the opposite pattern. These results, in concert with other neuropsychological data, are provocative because they suggest that certain cognitive deficits may cluster even in the absence of frank cerebral damage, just as they cluster following insult to one hemisphere. These findings should provide clues to the interrelationship of components of visuospatial processing and other cognitive functions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

The effects of thematic context and presentation mode on memory for sentence voice.

A sentence in discourse may appear in the passive voice to emphasize the logical object rather than the logical subject when it is thematically more important. Two experiments are reported that explore the impact of this textual function of voice on sentence memory. The first experiment required subjects to listen to prose passages and then recall them. Sentences were recalled predominantly in the active voice regardless of voice or thematic focus in the prose passage, showing that the English-language bias for the active voice was a more important determinant of sentence reconstruction than was the experiment manipulation of thematic context. The second experiment required subjects to listen to or read either prose passages or lists of unrelated sentences and then to try to recognize "key" sentences that were either unchanged or changed lexically, semantically, or in voice. Recognition, both overall and specifically for voice, was better for sentences that were read than for those that were heard, and recognition for semantic change was consistently higher than for any other. Only when passages were read was there evidence in support of a thematic textual influence on memory for sentence voice.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Endothelin 1-21 plasma concentrations in children and adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

This study is based on the hypothesis that endothelins (ETs), which are 21-amino acid peptides with vasoactive and proliferative properties, could be implicated in the development of complications of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in children and adolescents. We determined plasma ET 1-21 concentrations by radioimmunoassay in 59 patients with IDDM (32 male, 27 female) and in 41 healthy siblings (20 male, 21 female) and investigated the association of ET 1-21 concentrations with age, sex, control of diabetes (expressed as % of glycosylated hemoglobin), duration of disease and presence of complications. Plasma ET 1-21 concentrations (mean +/- SEM) were 14.12 +/- 0.30 pg/ml in IDDM and 15.34 +/- 0.47 pg/ml in healthy siblings. The difference was statistically significant (p = 0.01) after controlling for age and sex by multiple logistic regression. In the group with IDDM, analysis of covariance showed duration of disease to be the only variable associated with ET 1-21 values (b = 0.2179 pg/ml/yr, p = 0.04). It is concluded that in youngsters with IDDM ET plasma concentrations are lower than in healthy controls, negatively associated with duration of the disease and not directly implicated in diabetic angiopathy.

Adolescent↗