Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

E Vitali

Publications and source records attributed to E Vitali.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy for prostate carcinoma: the experience of the Brescia Radium Institute.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of postoperative radiotherapy in reducing the incidence of prostate carcinoma (PCa) recurrences after radical prostatectomy (RP), define the importance of the time interval between surgery and radiotherapy for prognosis and the toxicity of the treatment in comparison with radiotherapy or surgery alone. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We examined 97 patients who consecutively underwent postoperative radiotherapy after RP between 1980 and 2003. The treatment was considered "adjuvant" if was conducted less than 6 months after RP, if there was no macroscopic residual disease and if there was no progressive increase in serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and "salvage" if performed more than 6 months after RP, for the presence of macroscopic recurrence or with rising PSA. Radiotherapy was salvage in 56 patients and adjuvant in 41. Age range was 60-70 years in 80% of patients, and the Karnofsky index was over 80 in 78% of cases. Histology revealed extracapsular spread in 60% of patients. Preradiotherapy PSA was higher than 1 ng/ml in 36%. Radiotherapy was performed on the surgical bed only in 80%, and the total dose was 70 Gy in 62% of cases. RESULTS: Recurrence-free survival (RFS) at 5 years and 10 years was 53+/-8% and 32+/-14.2%, respectively, for the whole sample; 76+/-9% and 38+/-2.7% for patients treated with adjuvant radiotherapy and 36+/-10% and 28+/-10% for those treated with salvage radiotherapy (p<0.01). Moreover, the 5-year RFS was better in the group treated with adjuvant radiotherapy and PSA less than or equal to 1 ng/ml (p<0.05). Treatment toxicity was acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative radiotherapy improves RFS and reduces the risk of local recurrence. The best results are obtained with early postoperative treatment ("adjuvant"); adjuvant radiotherapy of high-risk forms yields better results if performed with PSA less than or equal to 1 ng/ml.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Radical radiotherapy for bladder cancer: retrospective analysis of a series of 459 patients treated in an Italian institution.

AIMS: To contribute to the available evidence about the efficacy of exclusive radiotherapy for bladder cancer through a retrospective analysis of a large series of patients consecutively treated in a single institution. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 459 patients with UICC categories T1-T4, N0-Nx and M0 bladder cancer consecutively treated with radiotherapy alone with radical intent formed the clinical basis for this study. Many of them (and particularly the T1 cases) had poor medical conditions or were unfit for surgery. About half of the cases (54%) had a T2 tumour, and about 18% had T3-T4 disease. Eighty per cent of the cases received minimal doses in the target volume in the range 60-70 Gy; pelvic lymph nodes were treated in 34%. Simple radiotherapy techniques were used in most cases. Average follow-up for living patients was 4.4 years. Results were analysed according to number and type of relapses: overall survival, disease-specific survival, failure-free survival probability, acute and late toxicity (RTOG scale). RESULTS: Actuarial 5-year overall survival, disease-specific survival and failure-free survival rates at 5 years for the entire series were 36%, 56%, 33%, respectively. Age, T category (for all the end points) and tumour dose (only for failure-free survival) were significantly related to prognosis at multivariate survival analysis. Late enteric toxicity (6.1% of the cases) was significantly linked with the treated volumes (univariate analysis). Urinary late toxicity (23% of cases) was linked with age and T category (multivariate analysis). In both cases, toxicity was mostly Grade 1 or 2. CONCLUSIONS: The results of radiotherapy in this negatively selected series, accrued over a long period of time in patients treated with unsophisticated techniques, are reasonably good; they add to the evidence available to support the use of modern bladder-sparing programmes, including the association of chemo- and radiotherapy.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Materials characterization of explanted mechanical heart valves and comparison to patients' clinical data.

In the present study, twelve explanted mechanical heart valves (MHVs)with pyrolitic carbon tilting disc and 14 bileaflet MHVs were analyzed to investigate the effects of material properties on valve performance and patients' general health conditions. Optical and scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate material imperfections, wear patterns or damages to housing and occluder components. All analyzed tilting disc valves exhibited wear effects, particularly due to abrasion and impact to both disc and housing. Wear of pyrolitic carbon disc and housing did not influence their in vivo performance. In the bileaflet MHVs, breakaway of the pyrolitic carbon coating sometimes caused malfunctioning and required surgical retrieval of the valve. In all cases, occurrence of clinical symptoms was more likely when wear effects were located in critical areas. The study supports a correlation between the properties of the MHVs material and patients' symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Mechanical circulatory support in severe heart failure: single-center experience.

Ventricular assist devices (VADs) have become important therapeutic tools to treat patients with end-stage cardiac failure. VADs are an essential component of transplantation programs as they successfully bridge individuals who would otherwise die. Recently left ventricular VAD (LVAD) therapy has been proposed as alternative to heart transplantation (HTx) for patients who are not transplant candidates. Other indications have now expanded into areas such as postcardiotomy failure, acute myocarditis, and acute massive myocardial infarction. From 1988 to May 2003, 80 patients received left or biventricular mechanical circulatory support including 78 as a bridge to and two as an alternative to HT. All patients survived the operation. Mean duration of VAD support was 77 +/- 150 days. Fifty-one points (63.8%) underwent heart transplantation; 3 (3.8%) recovered and were weaned from VADs. Major bleeding episodes occurred in 11 patients (13.8%) and major neurologic events occurred in 8 (10%). Sixteen patients (20%) were discharged home while waiting for HTx. Twenty-two patients (27.5%) died on VAD. In conclusion, VAD therapy proved effective in bridging patients with end-stage heart failure to HTx. While on LVAD support patients who were assisted with implantable wearable devices could be discharged at home, improving their quality of life.

Cause of Death↗
PubMed2004

Impella recover 100 microaxial left ventricular assist device: the Niguarda experience.

BACKGROUND: The Impella Recover 100 (IR100) is an intravascular microaxial blood pump used to support blood circulation for a maximum of 7 days in cases of reduced left ventricular function, for example in postcardiotomy low output syndrome or in cardiogenic shock after acute myocardial infarction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We supported five patients with the IR100. The mean age, cardiac index (CI), and ejection fraction (EF) of our population were 42 years, 1.83 L/min/m(2), and 20%, respectively. Two patients (group A) with ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy were bridged to heart transplant. Two patients (group B) with fulminan myocarditis and septic shock were bridged to recovery. One patient, with severe valvular cardiomyopathy who underwent aortic valve replacement and mitral valve annuloplasty, was supported to weaning from ECC. RESULTS: Mean support time was 9.8 +/- 2.3 days. Only one acute myocarditis patient died from a severe vasoplegic syndrome despite maximal inotropic and vasoactive support. Both group A patients were successfully transplanted. Among group B, the second patient resolved the septic status and was slowly weaned from the device and discharged home with moderate improvement of LV function (EF = 40%). Patient C was weaned from the IR100 and electively placed on the heart transplant recipient list. CONCLUSIONS: IR100 is a device that in our experience can be utilized for various indications for short-term support. In compromised patients where a traditional LVAD is contraindicated, the IR100 showed good results, for it is minimally invasive and does not need ECC or systemic anticoagulation.

Equipment Design↗
PubMed2003

Combined surgical approach to coexistent carotid and coronary artery disease: early and late results.

BACKGROUND: The management of patients with simultaneous coronary artery and carotid artery disease is still controversial. METHODS: A retrospective review of the records and follow-up data of 139 consecutive patients undergoing simultaneous coronary artery bypass graft and carotid endarterectomy from 1981 to 1999 was carried out. RESULTS: Early mortality was 2.1%, perioperative myocardial infarction and stroke rates were 2.8 and 1.4%, respectively. Survival at 7 years was 74.7+/-5.1% and event-free survival at 7 years was 67.9+/-5.6%. CONCLUSIONS: The combined surgical approach has proved to be effective and safe allowing the treatment of both diseases in a single operative procedure.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Congestive heart failure. A new milestone for a better life.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) represents the 1st cause of death in the civil world. Despite considerable advances in the diagnosis and medical treatment of CHF, this condition remains a real "malignant" disease. The cardiac transplantation (CT) remains "gold standard" option for the treatment of patients with severe CHF in all age group; but only a small number of patients can receive it due to scarcity of donor organs. The increased successful clinical experience with the ventricular assist device (VAD) confirmed the indisputable importance of long-term mechanical circulatory support for patients who suffer acute hemodynamic deterioration. Over the past years, several miniaturized continuous flow VAD have been developed for clinical use. The authors report the data of worldwide and particularly Italian experience about middle and long-term pump performance in patients supported with axial-flow pump MicroMed DeBakey VAD in the bridge to cardiac transplantation setting.

Heart Failure↗
PubMed2001

Mechanical circulatory support for advanced heart failure: effect of patient selection on outcome.

BACKGROUND: Use of wearable left ventricular assist systems (LVAS) in the treatment of advanced heart failure has steadily increased since 1993, when these devices became generally available in Europe. The aim of this study was to identify in an unselected cohort of LVAS recipients those aspects of patient selection that have an impact on postimplant survival. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were obtained from the Novacor European Registry. Between 1993 and 1999, 464 patients were implanted with the Novacor LVAS. The majority had idiopathic (60%) or ischemic (27%) cardiomyopathy; the median age at implant was 49 (16 to 75) years. The median support time was 100 days (4.1 years maximum). Forty-nine percent of the recipients were discharged from the hospital on LVAS; they spent 75% of their time out of the hospital. For a subset of 366 recipients, for whom a complete set of data was available, multivariate analysis revealed that the following preimplant conditions were independent risk factors for survival after LVAS implantation: respiratory failure associated with septicemia (odds ratio 11.2), right heart failure (odds ratio 3.2), age >65 years (odds ratio 3.01), acute postcardiotomy (odds ratio 1.8), and acute infarction (odds ratio 1.7). For patients without any of these factors, the 1-year survival after LVAS implantation including the posttransplantation period was 60%; for the combined group with at least 1 risk factor, it was 24%. CONCLUSIONS: Careful selection, specifically implantation before patients become moribund, and improvement of management may result in improved outcomes of LVAS treatment for advanced heart failure.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Increasing trend of type I diabetes in children and young adults in the province of Turin (Italy). Analysis of age, period and birth cohort effects from 1984 to 1996.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: This study aimed to determine if the incidence of Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus increased over time and if the time trend is attributable to linear trend, calendar period or birth cohort effects. METHODS: This study was based on a cohort of subjects aged 0-29 years from 1984 to 1996, who resided in the province of Turin, Italy. Poisson regression models were used to estimate the effect of sex, age, calendar time and cohorts on incidence rates. RESULTS: The mean incidence rate in the age group of 0 to 29 years was 7.78 of 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval: 7.26-8.32), with a lower risk in women than in men [rate ratio (RR): 0.76 (0.67-0.88)]. We found a trend of incidence increasing over time (annual increase of risk 2.25 % a year, 95 % CI 0.44-4.10). In Poisson regression analysis we found that the best model was the one with sex, age and a linear term attributable to either calendar period or cohort effects. The linear term corresponds to a RR of 1.12 (1.02-1.22,p = 0.015) for each 5-year age span. CONCLUSION/INTERPRETATION: We found that the time trend in this Mediterranean area was similar in magnitude to that reported in northern European countries. The increase was linear in pattern, each birth cohort and each calendar period showing a higher risk than the preceeding one with some evidence of two steep increases in the incidence of Type I diabetes centered on the years 1964 and 1984. We found that the incidence of diabetes increased in the 0 to 14 age group and also in the older age group of 15 to 29 years and that the age-period models were not statistically significantly better than the age-cohort models.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Aorto-atrial fistula through the septum in recurrent aortic dissection.

A case of aortic dissection (De Bakey type I) with a fistula to the right atrium through the interatrial septum, diagnosed by transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography is reported. The patient presented with cardiac failure and a continuous murmur in the right second and third intercostal spaces. The patient underwent successful operative repair.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Tricuspid regurgitation secondary to mitral valve disease: tricuspid annulus function as guide to tricuspid valve repair.

METHODS: A prospective analysis was performed on 50 patients (pts) with rheumatic mitral disease and associate secondary tricuspid insufficiency who underwent mitral valve replacement from January 1995 to December 1998. Surgical indication to tricuspid annuloplasty was considered in patients with echocardiographic tricuspid annulus diameter > 21 mm/m2, regardless semiquantitative evaluation of tricuspid insufficiency. De Vega annuloplasty was performed in 33 out of 50 patients. RESULTS: Hospital mortality was 2.0% (CL 0.3-3.6). The follow up of the discharged patients ranged from 3 to 48 months (mean 25 +/- 15.9). Three late deaths occurred (6.1% CL 2.8-9.2). Forty-two patients out of the 46 followed up (91.3% CL 84.9-93.8) were in I or II NYHA class. In eight patients (16.3% of discharged patients) the obtained result has been considered as 'negative late results': persisting moderate (three cases) or moderate-severe (five cases) TrI, together with congestive heart failure requiring a furosemide intake of > 25 mg/day. No patients had severe TrI at follow up. The statistics analysis demonstrated the 'preoperative fraction shortening of the tricuspid annulus' (P = 0.038) as factor predictive of late negative result. The incidence of late negative result was 57.1% among patients with fractional shortening lower than 25% and 0% among those patients with fractional shortening greater than 25% (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The choice to treat the tricuspid insufficiency according to indexed tricuspid annulus dimension (> 21 mm/m2) has been effective in terms of clinical efficacy and of late functional result. Fractional shortening of the tricuspid annulus, expression of right ventricular cardiomyopathy in patients with poorest prognosis, affects the postoperative evolution of tricuspid insufficiency.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Papillary muscle rupture and pericardial injuries after blunt chest trauma.

Non-penetrating cardiac trauma resulting in mitral valve rupture is uncommon, requiring a high degree of suspicion for diagnosis. Sudden and severe mitral regurgitation, unless surgically corrected rapidly lead to congestive heart failure and death. We report a patient with traumatic rupture of the antero-lateral papillary muscle of the mitral valve and pericardial injury, after a lateral blunt chest trauma, who successfully underwent emergency mitral valve replacement.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

First successful Italian clinical experience with DeBakey VAD.

The growing number of patients waiting for heart transplantation more than tripled between 1989 and 1998. Various non-pulsatile mechanical circulatory support devices have been developed as bridge to heart transplantation in recent years. We report the first successful Italian clinical experience with an axial-flow pump, DeBakey VAD, in a patient supported as bridge to transplantation for 55 days.

Cardiomyopathy, Dilated↗
PubMed2001

Resting echocardiography and quantitative dipyridamole technetium-99m sestamibi tomography in the identification of cardiac allograft vasculopathy and the prediction of long-term prognosis after heart transplantation.

AIMS: To evaluate the accuracy of echocardiography in conjunction with quantitative high-dose dipyridamole technetium-99m sestamibi tomography (SPECT) in detecting coronary allograft vasculopathy. METHODS AND RESULTS: Seventy-eight consecutive heart transplant recipients underwent echocardiography while at rest and high-dose dipyridamole SPECT within 48 h of a yearly angiogram. Resting wall motion abnormalities were considered significant if present in two or more segments. SPECT was considered abnormal in the presence of reversible/fixed defects. The coronary angiogram was normal in 53, showed non-significant coronary allograft vasculopathy in 13 and significant (> or = 50% stenosis) coronary allograft vasculopathy in 12 cases. Resting wall motion abnormalities were observed in nine cases and perfusion defects in 20. Echocardiography and SPECT were concordant in 59 cases (five positive and 54 negative); in these, accuracy was 100% for significant coronary allograft vasculopathy and 83% for any coronary allograft vasculopathy. Over 6.5+/-2 years, 17 patients suffered coronary allograft vasculopathy-related events, including death in six and retransplantation in three. Resting wall motion abnormalities, SPECT perfusion defects and angiographic coronary allograft vasculopathy were significant predictors of cardiac events. CONCLUSION: Normal resting wall motion at echocardiography coupled to normal stress myocardial perfusion, rules out the presence of significant coronary allograft vasculopathy in many heart transplant recipients. Conversely, resting wall motion abnormalities and perfusion defects strongly predict cardiac events. Therefore, a strategy which reserves angiography for patients with resting wall motion abnormalities and/or perfusion defects may be safe and cost-effective.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

[Left monoventricular assistance with DeBakey VAD continuous flow pump: initial clinical Italian experience].

BACKGROUND: The shortage of heart donors causes a rise in mortality among candidates for cardiac transplantation and increases the waiting list. Consequently mechanical circulatory support for bridge to transplant is now a standard clinical procedure utilized in the most representative cardiac surgery centers. Recently, continuous-axial-flow pumps have been introduced in the clinical practice and have led to new perspectives. METHODS: Four patients suffering from end-stage heart failure were implanted with a DeBakey ventricular assist device (VAD) continuous-flow pump as a bridge to heart transplant. The DeBakey VAD is smaller than the pulsatile devices commonly employed, the pump is totally implantable and is connected to a small controller and two batteries by a transcutaneous drive line. RESULTS: One patient died of multiorgan failure during assistance; 3 patients were fully rehabilitated and were successfully transplanted after 55, 42 and 141 days respectively. In the early postoperative period the mean pump flow was 4.27 +/- 0.55 l/min, after 1 week of assistance the flow rose to 5.32 +/- 0.57 l/min and then progressively increased to 5.83 +/- 0.57 l/min. CONCLUSIONS: This experience demonstrated the possibility of continuous-flow left ventricular support with the DeBakey VAD for mid-term mechanical ventricular assistance. This pump presents new interesting aspects and opens new perspectives for the future of left ventricular mechanical assistance. Increasing experience will define the role of this device in the scenario of heart failure.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Incorrect echocardiographic diagnosis in patients with mechanical prosthetic valve dysfunction: correlation with surgical findings.

PURPOSE: To identify the rate of occurrence and type of incorrect echocardiographic diagnoses in patients with mechanical valve prostheses. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied 170 consecutive patients (73 women and 97 men) with a total of 208 prostheses who underwent surgery for mitral (n = 136) or aortic (n = 72) valve dysfunction between January 1991 and December 1997. Preoperative echocardiographic data were compared with surgical findings. Any major discrepancy between the echocardiographic reports and surgery was judged to be unconfirmed when the preoperative echocardiographic diagnosis was not confirmed at surgery, but the prosthesis was found to be dysfunctioning; and was judged to be erroneous when the preoperative echocardiographic diagnosis was not confirmed, and surgical inspection failed to reveal any other prosthetic abnormality. RESULTS: There were 25 (12%) diagnostic errors. Of the 136 mitral prostheses, there were 9 unconfirmed diagnoses of paravalvular regurgitation (6 had a fibrous tissue overgrowth, 1 had a thrombus with fibrous tissue overgrowth, 1 had endocarditis vegetations, and 1 had a ball variance) and 5 erroneous diagnoses. Eleven diagnostic errors were made in the 72 aortic prostheses: there were 9 unconfirmed diagnoses (paravalvular regurgitation was diagnosed as transvalvular in 7, and transvalvular regurgitation as paravalvular in 2 cases), and 2 erroneous diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Although echocardiography has gained great credibility among clinicians, special care should be taken when assessing patients in whom prosthetic valve dysfunction is suspected.

Aged↗