Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to F Ayala.
A retrospective study of 50 patients with ethylenediamine allergy revealed that 2 topical products containing ethylenediamine as a stabiliser are the main sources of sensitization in Italy. Some of these patients cross-reacted to piperazine and diethylenetriamine, but none to ethylenediamine tetracetic acid.
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A case of twenty-nail dystrophy in an 7-year-old girl is presented. The histopathological findings were incompatible with lichen planus. The differential diagnosis is briefly discussed, and the literature reviewed.
The case of a surgical patient with a full blown syndrome of zinc deficiency is presented and the various implications related to a deficiency of this trace mineral are discussed. The symptomatology involved mental depression, visual disturbances, glucose intolerance, decreased serum alkaline phosphatase levels, wound healing impairment, eczematoid dermatitis and reduced humoral and cellular immune defences. Oral supplementation with zinc sulphate dramatically reversed the signs and symptoms of the syndrome and resulted in rapid wound healing. This case seems to have exhibited most of the different signs and symptoms reported from time to time in the literature. Awareness of zinc deficiency is being brought to light in many medical and surgical conditions. Total parenteral nutrition (T.P.N.) can exacerbate the lack of this trace metal and supplementation with fresh blood derivate are, as demonstrated, useless in these cases. Zinc, as component of various metalloenzymes, accounts for the clinical manifestations of its deficiency.
A study to determine whether laser radiation of low-power photon density would really affect the healing of venous leg ulcers in man was performed. The ulcers were irradiated 6 d per wk with a helium-neon laser (wavelength 632.8 nm). Energy densities of 1 J/cm2 (16 patients) and 4 J/cm2 (17 patients) were administered daily. The control group (28 patients) received only antiseptic local compresses as treatment. No statistically significant difference between the laser-treated group and the control group was found. It was concluded that helium-neon laser radiation has no advantages over standard local treatments, at least with the dosage schedules and protocols employed.
An otherwise healthy 6-year-old girl, with lesions which clinically and histopathologically corresponded to the rare inherited disorder ichthyosis hystrix, is described. The classification of this disorder is briefly discussed.
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A family is described in which female members of two generations were affected from birth from a flexion deformity of the fingers. The pedigree analysis suggests the possibility of a sex-limited autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance. This rare condition, which has been reported only once in the literature, is known by the term streblodactyly (streblos = Gr. twisted, crooked).
To analyze the possible correlation between steroidogenic activity of the Leydig cells and their morphology and ultrastructure in the boar testes at different ages, testes from six Yorkshire boars were obtained by orchidectomy at 8,14,28,40,70,78,86,94 and 100 days of age. Using representative sections of testicular parenchyma, light as well as transmission electron microscopic studies were performed. Homogenized, albuginea-free tissue was further used for quantitative estimation of total proteins and metabolic pools of androstenedione (A), testosterone (T) and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Under light microscopy, abundant hyperplastic Leydig cells were observed from 14 to 40 days, thereafter was a decrease in their size and number. Spermatogenesis remained in the spermatogonia stage while the tubules increased in diameter until age 80 days; from 90 days on, pachytene primary spermatocytes could be found. A well developed smooth endoplasmic reticulum was observed in Leydig cells from the 8th postnatal day. Metabolic pools from age 8 to 28 days showed a decrease for T and A from 4.33 to 1.78 and 2.51 to 0.48 microgram/mg protein respectively, maintaining thereafter the same levels throughout the age-span studied. However, DHT was found at low levels from the beginning of neonatal period (from 0.07 to 0.38 microgram/mg protein).
Two brothers with typical, symmetrical lesions of elastosis perforans serpiginosa are presented. Familial occurrence has been reported only once. In neither family was the disease associated with heritable disorders of the connective tissue. The pedigree analysis suggests an autosomal-recessive pattern of inheritance.
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Multiple endocrine neoplasia, type IIb, is a rare syndrome characterized by mucosal neuromas, medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), pheochromocytoma and somatic abnormalities. A case of a 10-year-old girl with multiple mucosal neuromas and bilateral MTC is reported. The presumptive diagnosis of MTC was made on the basis of abnormal basal values of calcitonin and increased calcitonin secretion after pentagastrin injection. The manifestations of the syndrome are summarized, and the importance of repeated evaluation of thyroidal C-cell and adrenal medullary function in patients with the characteristic aspect of the syndrome is emphasized.
An association between porphyria cutanea tarda and HLA-AW32 has been put into evidence in a group of 28 unrelated patients. A relative risk of 3.09, with a chi 2 of 4.55 (p less than 0.05) was found, using a 148-member panel of controls.
The urinary levels of D-glucaric acid, which is an index of hepatic microsome induction, and the excretion of glucuronic acid and porphyrins were measured in nine patients with Porphyria Cutanea Tarda (PCT) and twelve normal controls. The excretion of D-glucaric acid and glucuronic acid were respectively 3.5 and two times higher in PCT patients compared to controls. A statistical correlation could be demonstrated between urinary excretion of total porphyrins with that of glucaric and glucuronic acids. These findings indicate that microsomal function and porphyrin metabolic derangement are strictly related in PCT.
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