Biomedical subjects

D Ferrari

Publications and source records attributed to D Ferrari.

99 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Differential diagnosis of low back pain.

Low back pain is a symptom common to many vertebral and extravertebral affections. The origin of low back pain mostly derives from a pathology localized in the spine, as in the case of degenerative lesions, neoplastic lesions, infections, fractures, metabolic diseases such as osteoporosis, or more rarely, rheumatological diseases. The causes of extravertebral low back pain may be renal, pancreatic, gastrointestinal, or of the female genital apparatus. The authors present a series of clinical aspects which must always be taken into consideration in order to avoid errors in the diagnosis and evaluation of a patient with low back pain.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Essential thrombocythemia and acute leukemia.

A case of leukemic evolution from essential thrombocythemia (ET) is described. The patient developed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) six months after diagnosis while receiving hydroxyurea (HU). He died in four days in spite of treatment with low-dose cytarabine (ARA-C).

Acute Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Dysphagia due to cervical osteophytosis.

Cervical lesions caused by diffused idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis may cause compression of the upper respiratory and digestive paths. Horizontal anterior osteophytes that are not fused can cause dysphagia and dysphonia, large prevertebral ossifications extended or segmental may cause difficulty in breathing. A series of 6 cases with dysphagia, dysphonia, dyspnea due to duffused idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis, with cervical lesions is reported. In 3 cases, affected with moderate dysphagia, conservative treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs and a proper diet allowed for the symptoms to be controlled, and for spontaneous evolution of the lesions to occur, with fusion and remodeling of the compressive osteophytes. These patients continue to be asymptomatic 2-7 years after the first observation. In 3 cases affected with severe respiratory and/or nutrition deficit, the osteophytes and ossifications were surgically removed by prevascular extrapharyngeal approach, and rapid resolution of symptoms ensued. The follow-up 1-2 years after treatment showed that patients were asymptomatic and that radiographically there was no recurrence of lesions.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Fragment fracture of the femoral head: a description of two cases.

Fragment fracture of the femoral head is a rare occurrence. The authors report two cases, in both of which there was dislocation of the hip, that was reduced non-surgically without at the same time obtaining reduction of the fractured fragment. In the first case the fragment was removed surgically while in the second case it was treated non-surgically as the cephalic lesion was unknown. At clinical-radiographic follow-up 2 years later, there was good functional recovery with no pain in the first patient, while early arthrosis developed in the second patient requiring prosthetic replacement surgery.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Surgical staging of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva. Analysis of treatment and survival.

The records of patients treated for vulvar carcinoma at the University of Milan from January 1967 through December 1991 have been studied retrospectively, making an analysis of the results of surgical staging in terms of prognosis, morbidity and long-term survival. All cases have been reevaluated and restaged according to the 1988 FIGO classification of vulvar cancer, considering 196 cases of primary invasive vulvar squamous carcinoma. Surgical treatments have been divided according to radicality. Ninety-five per cent of patients underwent radical vulvectomy with different degrees of lymphadenectomy. Surgical mortality rate amounted to 2%. Surgical staging has not been related to increased early or late morbidity. Overall recurrence rate amounted to 19.9% without significant differences among FIGO stages. Five-year survivals amounted to 100%, 86.2%, 59.4%, 29.8%, and 20% for stages I, II, III, IVA and IVB respectively. Accurate surgical staging of vulvar carcinoma enables a precise prognosis and does not increase morbidity.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Paralyzing disc herniation: a contribution.

The authors report a case of paralyzing disc herniation that caused atrophy of the sura muscles to the right, many years after the occurrence of two episodes of acute lumbar sciatic pain that was successfully treated conservatively. Diagnosis was formulated based exclusively on muscular insufficiency in the region affected and remote pathologic history.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Two cases of hyperparathyroidism initially diagnosed as aneurysmal cyst.

The authors present two cases of primary hyper-parathyroidism initially diagnosed as aneurysmal cyst. The aspects of differential diagnosis are discussed, and the importance of evaluating all of the diagnostic elements in order to formulate a correct diagnosis is emphasized.

Adenoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Antibiotic and antithromboembolic prophylaxis in hip arthroplasty (a review of 700 primary implants).

The authors report the results obtained with antibiotic and antithromboembolic prophylaxis used in 700 consecutive primary total hip arthroplasties. As for antibiotic prophylaxis (5 cases of infection: 0.7%) the various types of antibiotic used always kept the infection rate under 1%, confirming the effectiveness of the preventive use of antibioticotherapy. The incidence of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolia were 3.7% and 0.7%, respectively (26 cases of DVT and 5 of PET). The incidence of DVT rose to 34.4% in a selected group of cases in which phlebography had been carried out even in the absence of symptoms of DVT. This confirms that the routine use of this method would without a doubt be useful in preventing complications with a high risk for the life of the patient (pulmonary embolia). As for pharmacological prophylaxis, indobufene and calcium heparin were the drugs used most: their effectiveness was nearly similar, despite the fact that the use of calcium heparin in patients considered to be at a higher risk for thromboembolic complications should be made clear.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Peripheral aneurysms in the differential diagnosis of soft tissue sarcomas.

The authors present four cases of peripheral aneurysm: 1 true aneurysm towards the superficial femoral artery, and 3 aneurysms of the popliteal artery, 1 of which true and 2 false. The criteria used for differential diagnosis with soft tissue sarcomas is analyzed and the importance of a complete diagnosis before planning incisional biopsy is emphasized.

Adult↗