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Biomedical subjects

E Bottacchi

Publications and source records attributed to E Bottacchi.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Incidence and prognosis of stroke in the Valle d'Aosta, Italy. First-year results of a community-based study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We sought to determine the incidence rate, risk factors, and prognosis of stroke in Valle d'Aosta, Italy, to provide information for planning regional health-care facilities. METHODS: We undertook a prospective study of all new cases of stroke in the geographically defined population of 114,325 residents of Valle d'Aosta in northern Italy. RESULTS: In the first year of the study (January 1-December 31, 1989), 254 cases of first stroke were registered. The crude annual incidence rate was 2.23/1,000, 1.98/1,000 for men and 2.46/1,000 for women. After adjustment to the 1988 Italian population, the incidence rate for first stroke was 2.15/1,000 per year, 2.48/1,000 per year for men and 1.99/1,000 per year for women. The pathological diagnosis was cerebral infarction in 67%, intracranial hemorrhage in 15%, and unknown in 18%. The overall 30-day case-fatality rate was 31%. In survivors, Barthel Index Score recorded at 30 days from stroke onset showed that 100 patients (62%) were dependent in activities of daily living. CONCLUSIONS: Our results do not differ significantly from those reported in Umbria, the only similar study performed in Italy, and support non-Italian data as to risk factors in stroke.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Frequency of multiple sclerosis in Valle d'Aosta, 1971-1985.

According to studies done before 1980, the multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence rate in Italy ranged from 7.2 to 27.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. More recent work has consistently put the MS prevalence rate to over 30 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. If these recent data are confirmed in the future, Italy can no longer be regarded as a country at low risk for MS, but must be included among the medium-high risk countries of continental Europe. We report the results of a prevalence and incidence survey conducted in Valle d'Aosta, a region whose special features make it an excellent epidemiological model. The mean annual incidence was 2.1 and on December 31, 1985, the prevalence was 39 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. These results confirm that the incidence and prevalence rate of MS in Valle d'Aosta is close to that of areas at high-risk for MS.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Considerations after intraoperative monitoring of somatosensory evoked potentials during carotid endarterectomy.

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) following median nerve stimulation were used to monitor cerebral function during 26 carotid endarterectomies. The patients with minor SEP variations had no neurological deficits on regaining consciousness while the one with more serious SEP variations had a transient deficit. The method thus seems useful in the early detection of ischemic brain impairment.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic function in Parkinson's disease.

A deficit of nigrostriatal, mesocortical and mesolimbic dopamine systems in Parkinson's disease is well known. We know less about the involvement of tuberoinfundibular dopamine (TID) systems. In untreated (naive or wash-out) men with Parkinson's disease, we studied TID function through basal and stimulated plasma levels of growth hormone, prolactin and thyrotropin. Only minor abnormalities in prolactin responses to thyrotropin-releasing hormone were found, probably reflecting denervation hypersensitivity. TID function is preserved in men with Parkinson's disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Central and peripheral involvement in hemodialysed subjects: neurophysiological and nephrological relationships.

Nerve conduction velocity and visual evoked potential studies were conducted in 31 patients with chronic renal failure undergoing periodic hemodialysis. The results indicate damage to the central nervous system, such as delayed P100 wave, even in the absence of clinical signs, and to the peripheral nervous system, such as distal sensorimotor neuropathy. The degree of peripheral involvement correlates with the duration of dialysis and with some blood chemistry values but not with the evoked potential parameters. There is no correlation between central and peripheral nervous damage, which presumably points to a difference in pathogenesis.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Polyneuropathy in hypothyroidism: clinical, electrophysiological and morphological findings in four cases.

Clinical, neurophysiological and morphological studies of four patients with polyneuropathy and secondary hypothyroidism are reported. Neurophysiological studies revealed signs of muscle denervation and reduction of conduction velocity in all the patients. Sural nerve biopsies showed axonal degeneration in all cases but one. All the patients were treated with replacement therapy and clinical symptomatology and neurophysiological parameters improved in all patients.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1987

Parasympathetic assessment in Parkinson's disease.

There is little evidence of autonomic dysfunction in PD, although autonomic disturbance was included in the original description by J. Parkinson. In addition, there are no data for de novo PD patients. We selected 14 de novo parkinsonians (seven men and seven women), aged 62.7 +/- 8.2 years, with mild disease (stage 1 through 2 on the Hoehn and Yahr's scale), without history of diabetes, heart disease, or alcoholism, and without neuropathy or orthostatic hypotension. Fourteen age- and sex-matched normal persons were controls. We found a highly significant difference in the respiratory sinus arrhythmias during deep breathing (p less than 0.01); the basal heart rate, the respiratory sinus arrhythmias during quiet breathing, and the Valsalva ratios did not differ statistically, however. In the absence of neuropathy and orthostatic hypotension and in the presence of normal Valsalva ratios, we believe that the abnormality found by us may apply only to parasympathetic dysfunction, perhaps at a central level. In addition, the abnormality seems to be independent of stage and therapy.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

[Acute myopathy and hyperthyroidism].

A 40 year-old woman with a rapidly progressive proximal muscle deficit of all four limbs had an acute myopathy secondary to hyperthyroidism. Biopsy of the quadriceps femoris revealed signs of non specific muscle impairment with type II fiber atrophy. Treatment with methimazole and correction of the thyroid condition led to rapid disappearance of the disorders. Eighteen months later the clinical status was normal and a second quadriceps femoris biopsy showed that the muscle had normalized.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1985

Hereditary motor neuropathy, distal type: electrophysiological and pathological studies of a case.

A case of HMN, distal type transmitted as autosomal dominant is described. Clinical findings appear to be consistent with a peroneal muscular atrophy, indistinguishable from HMSN types I and II. The electrophysiological data reveal a pathological involvement of the anterior horns, whereas sensory and motor conduction are normal. A muscle biopsy showed neurogenic atrophy, while the morphology of the sural nerve was normal.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Occurrence of pituitary adenoma in craniofacial fibrous dysplasia: a neuroendocrine and neuroradiological case study.

An 18 year old man with fibrous dysplasia of bone and several endocrine abnormalities was investigated. Laboratory tests showed high levels of prolactin, TSH and GH and low levels of testosterone and LH. TRH and GnRH showed normal responsiveness of the pituitary in spite of the high hormonal levels. The circadian rhythms disclosed no abnormalities of hypothalamic control. The neuroradiological study revealed pathological tissue but no positive sign of a pituitary adenoma, although the sella turcica polytomograms did suggest erosion of the floor. Our data are compatible with the presence of a mixed adenoma or adenomas of the pituitary. We emphasize the importance of a correct study, including neuroradiological and neuroendocrine investigations, in patients with fibrous dysplasia of bone.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1985

Porphyric neuropathy: a clinical, neurophysiological and morphological study.

A case of neuropathy in the course of an attack of acute intermittent porphyria was studied from the neurophysiological and morphological points of view. The neurophysiological findings (acute neuropathy with almost complete denervation despite normal or slightly reduced conduction velocity) and the morphological findings (no segmental demyelination after teasing, conservation of the linear fiber diameter/internodal distance ratio, mainly axonal damage on ultrastructural study) seem to indicate that the disease process is chiefly an axonal neuropathy.

Electromyography↗
PubMed1983

Skeletal muscle NAD+(P) and NADP+-dependent malic enzyme in Friedreich's ataxia.

Malic enzymes were studied in skeletal muscle from seven patients with Friedreich's ataxia (FA) and nine controls. Muscle contained three different malic enzymes. There were two strictly NADP+-dependent enzymes, one in the cytosol and one in mitochondria. These two enzymes are not allosteric. In FA muscle, activity of the mitochondrial NADP+-linked enzyme was significantly low and the cytosol NADP+-linked enzyme was significantly increased. A third malic enzyme, NAD+(P)-dependent, was found in the mitochondrial fraction. That enzyme had allosteric properties, and its activity was about the same in FA and control muscle.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Pyruvate-dehydrogenase complex in ataxic patients: enzyme deficiency in ataxic encephalopathy plus lactic acidosis and normal activity in Friedreich ataxia.

Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) activity was measured in cultured fibroblasts from 12 patients with Friedreich's ataxia (FA), and in 1 patient with lactic acidosis and ataxia. The activities obtained after extraction of PDHC by different methods were compared. Triton-X-100 extraction yielded enzyme activities 5 to 10 times greater than those obtained with the older methods. With this sensitive technique, PDHC activity was markedly deficient in fibroblasts from the patient with lactic acidosis and ataxia but it was normal in the fibroblasts from FA patients. Mg++ activation of the PDHC in FA fibroblasts was normal.

Acidosis↗