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Biomedical subjects

F Franchi

Publications and source records attributed to F Franchi.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

Second malignancies in Hodgkin's disease: a complication of certain forms of treatment.

A total of 764 patients with Hodgkin's disease treated with radiotherapy (RT) or chemotherapy or both were reviewed 3-186 months (median 43 months) after initial treatment to assess the incidence of second malignancies. Incidence of solid tumours and acute non-lymphoblastic leukaemia (ANLL) were calculated by a life-table method and percentages of patients affected derived from life-table plots. Within 10 years after initial treatment the overall incidence of second solid tumours was 7.3%, and over a comparable period 2.4% of patients developed ANLL. Solid tumours occurred only in patients given RT with or without adjuvant chemotherapy, and ANLL occurred only after treatment with MOPP (mustine, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisolone) or modified MOPP regimens. Neither solid tumours nor ANLL occurred in patients given ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine). The highest incidence of leukaemia (5.4%) occurred after treatment with extensive RT plus (5.4%) occurred after treatment with extensive RT plus MOPP; hence the benefits of this approach in Hodgkin's disease must be weighed against its carcinogenic potential.

Adult↗

A group-comparative study of effects of Ovestin cream versus Premarin cream in post-menopausal women with vaginal atrophy.

Fourteen post-menopausal women with vaginal atrophy applied, intravaginally, Ovestin cream (0.5 mg oestradiol/day; 7 patients) or Premarin cream (1.25 mg conjugated oestrogens/day; 7 patients) for 3 wk. Effects on plasma E1, E2, E3, FSH, LH, PRL, TRH-stimulated PRL release, SHBG, and on maturation value (MV), ferning (F) and spinnbarkeit (S) were studied. Endometrial biopsies at pre-treatment and at 2 wk were obtained from 2 patients from each group. Premarin induced a significant and progressive rise in E1 and E2 levels and in SHBG, whereas Ovestin induced no changes. Both creams increased E3 slightly and suppressed FSH and LH, Premarin suppression of FSH and LH being significantly greater. No significant changes in PRL or TRH-stimulated PRL release occurred with either cream. A similar, marked rise in the MV occurred, but the effect of Premarin on F and S was significantly greater. Endometrium remained atrophic in the 2 Ovestin-treated patients, but moderate proliferation occurred in the 2 Premarin-treated patients. The data showed Ovestin cream to be superior to Premarin cream because of the absence of undesirable effects on E1 and E2 levels and the subsequent changes in SHBG and endometrium.

Aged↗

Incomplete interpolation caused by sinoatrial pacemaker shift. A report of two cases.

Shortened return cycles after premature atrial stimulation (PAS) are commonly referred to as sinoatrial entrance block and exit delay at the sinoatrial junction or sinus-node reentries. In the 2 reported cases PAS at critical coupling intervals was followed by shortened return cycles characterized by a changed high right electrogram (and surface P waves in 1 case) and a normal sequence of atrial activation with unaltered intraatrial conduction. These changes lasted for some beats and a concomitant shorter or longer atrial cycle length was observed. Electrophysiological events furnish indirect evidence of sinoatrial pacemaker shift as a cause of incomplete interpolation in man.

Adult↗

Clinical classification and survival in chronic lymphocyte leukemia.

Sixty-one consecutive patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) treated at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan from September 1962 to August 1976 were classified according to the staging system of Rai et al. (16). Analysis of this series showed the following median survival (in months) from diagnosis: stage 0-I, 73; stage II, 44; stage III-IV, 32. In 11 patients without peripheral palpable adenopathies, the lymphangiogram showed abnormal retroperitoneal lymph nodes. Therefore, the initial stage was changed from 0 to I in 5 cases. The median survival for the entire series was 50 months. Patients with "indolent" disease had a median survival of 52 months, while in patients with "active" CLL, the median survival was 32 months. Both sex and age were shown to be poor predictors of survival. Increased duration of survival was observed in patients with less compared to those with more than 30,000 lymphocytes/mm3 (66 versus 41 months). The method of staging proposed by Rai et al. and utilized to classify this series at the time of diagnosis was confirmed to be a reliable predictor for survival.

Adult↗

Immunologic and clinical investigation on a bovine thymic extract. Therapeutic applications in primary immunoedificiencies.

Thirteen patients with primary immunodeficiencies (eight with T-cell deficiency, one with Wiskott-Aldrich (W-A) syndrome, two with common variable agammaglobulinemia (CVA), and two with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) were treated with a calf thymus extract, called thymostimulin (TS). It has been shown that this extract causes in vitro differentiation of T-cell precursors in patients with T-cell defect. Five of eight patients with pure T-cell defect showed immunologic recovery and clinical remission lasting for several months after interruption of the therapy; one had only transient reconstitution, one had slight increase in T-cells (clinical conditions not yet estimated), and two patients soon died from severe infections after showing a slight increase of T-cells. Immune recovery was assess by an increase of the absolute number of E-rosettes forming cells, of human T-lymphocyte antigen positive cells and of PHA responsiveness in the peripheral blood, and by a positive delayed hypersensitivity reaction to antigens. In five patients, there was also B-cell increase after TS treatment. Clinical remission consisted of disappearance of infections, weight gain, and in improvement in general conditions. No effect was observed in one patient with W-A syndrome, in two with CVA, and in two with SCID. Several hypotheses on the mechanisms involved in immune reconstitution are discussed. It seems likely that TS acts on prethymic cells or on the epithelial cells of hypoplastic thymuses. TS was not effective, either in vitro or in vivo, in patients with SCID probably because of a defect in stem cells.

Agammaglobulinemia↗

Hemodynamic effects of nitroglycerin.

The authors have studied the hemodynamic effects of sublingually administered nitroglycerin (NG). Obtained data indicate that the response to NG is time-dependent. A first phase, lasting about 2 minutes, is characterized by a reduction of total systemic resistance (TSR) and an increase of cardiac output (CO), without significant variations of left ventricular filling pressure (FP) and blood pressure (BP). A modest increase of heart rate (HR) is observed. The second phase is characterized by a reduced FP and later, after 5 minutes, of BP. Subsequently HR increases to a greater degree, CO decreases and TRS presents a variation toward control values.

Female↗

Assessment of sinus node function in asymptomatic subjects with sinus bradycardia and in symptomatic patients with sino-atrial disease.

Sinus node function was evaluated in 18 patients with sinus bradycardia without complaints (Group I), in 16 patients with sinus bradycardia and/or sinoatrial block with complaints (subgroup IIa) and in 14 patients with the bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome (subgroup IIb). Mean values of corrected sinus node recovery time (CSRT), atrial effective refractory period (AERP) and atrial functional refractory period (AFRP) differentiated significatively asymptomatic subjects of group I from the two subgroups of patients with sinoatrial disease, but failed to differentiate each subgroup from the other one. There was no significative difference in mean sinoatrial conduction time (SACT) between group I and each of the two subgroups. Three patients of subgroup IIa and 1 patient of subgroup IIb had a false negative response after both overdrive and premature programmed atrial pacing. Spontaneous cycle length was directly correlated with the sinus node recovery time and the atrial refractoriness in group I, and with the only sinus node recovery time in subgroup IIb. No direct correlations were observed in subgroup IIa. This suggests a less disturbed sinus node automaticity in bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome.

Arrhythmia, Sinus↗