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Biomedical subjects

F Frasson

Publications and source records attributed to F Frasson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Gallstone disease in an elderly population: the Silea study.

BACKGROUND: Little is known on gallbladder emptying and gallstone composition in the elderly. AIMS AND SUBJECTS: Cross-sectional survey on the prevalence of gallstone disease and associated factors, gallstone characteristics and gallbladder emptying in a population aged > or = 60 years. METHODS: Gallstone number and size as well as gallbladder motor function were assessed by ultrasound. Gallstone composition and pattern were evaluated by conventional radiology and computed tomography (CT) based on Hounsfield units (HU). RESULTS: Gallstones were found in 148/1,065 subjects (13.9%), while 136 subjects (12.8%) were cholecystectomized with an overall prevalence of gallstone disease of 26.7% (sex ratio: F > M). Multiple gallstones (62.7%) and small gallstones (52%, diameter < or = 15 mm) were seen; silent gallstones accounted for 93.9% of the total. Only diabetes mellitus in women was significantly associated with cholelithiasis. Gallbladder fasting volumes were larger in gallstone carriers than in controls (P < 0.01); residual and ejection volumes were also significantly greater in gallstone carriers, whereas ejection fractions were similar in the two groups (50.3% +/- 2.4 versus 54.9% +/- 3.0; not significant). Gallstone calcifications were detected in 29/91 gallstone carriers by X-ray and in another 20 by CT (HU > 90). Moreover, 35 gallstone carriers had a score < or = 50 HU and six had attenuation values between 50 and 90 HU. Six gallstone patterns were identified: hypo-isodense, homogeneously dense, rimmed, laminated, core-hyperdense, gas-containing. CONCLUSIONS: In the elderly, the prevalence of gallstone disease is very high, especially in women, but gallstone size, number and pattern and gallbladder emptying do not differ from those reported in the middle-aged gallstone population. Advanced age is associated with a high rate of calcified, probably pigment stones.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1998

[Cost analysis of ultrasound-guided transrectal needle biopsy in prostatic carcinoma].

INTRODUCTION: The literature mortality and morbidity rates from prostatic carcinoma prompt to the better use of some routine diagnostic tools such as transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy. We evaluated the overall cost of transrectal ultrasound biopsy (TRUSB) of the prostate and investigated the economic impact of the procedures currently used to diagnose prostatic carcinoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The total cost of TRUSB was calculated with reference to 247 procedures performed in 1996. The following cost factors were evaluated: personnel, materials, maintenance-equipment depreciation, energy consumption and hospital overheads. A literature review was also carried out to check if our extrapolated costs corresponded to those of other authors worldwide and to consider them in the wider framework of the cost effectiveness of the strategies for the early diagnosis of prostatic cancer. RESULTS: The overall cost of TRUSB was Itl. 249,000, obtained by adding together the costs of: personnel (Itl. 160,000); materials (Itl. 59,000); equipment maintenance and depreciation (Itl. 12,400); energy consumption (Itl. 100); hospital overheads (Itl. 17,500). The literature review points out TRUSB as a clinically invasive tool for diagnosing prostatic carcinoma whose cost-effectiveness is debated. Cadaver studies report the presence of cancer cells in the prostate of 50% of 70-year-old men, while extrapolations calculate a morbidity from prostatic carcinoma in 9.5% of 50-year-old men. It is therefore obvious that randomized prostatic biopsies, methods apart, are very likely to be positive. This probability varies with the patient's age, the level of prostate specific antigen (PSA), the density of PSA/cm3 of prostate volume (PSAD), and the positivity of exploration and/or transrectal ultrasound findings. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the strict application of all these criteria and the critical assessment of the patient's general conditions, TRUSB is indicated for 16% of the male population over 50, with obvious implications. It has been recently suggested that the ratio between free PSA (antigen fraction of the total serum PSA) and total PSA could be clinically useful as an effective predict of TRUSB positivity or negativity. Free PSA evaluation might thus help reduce the number of TRUSB.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1980

[Transhepatic embolization of oesophageal varices (author's transl)].

Personal experience (12 cases) and a literature review (165 cases) of trans-hepatic embolization of oesophageal varices are evaluated; indications, contra-indications, complications and results are discussed. Results are analyzed in term of: history of past bleeding, bleeding at the moment of the procedure, successive surgical or medical treatment. Moreover portal haemodynamics variations induced by the procedure are evaluated.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

[The distal spleno-renal anastomosis of Warren (author's transl)].

This is a report on 28 Warren-Shunts, 17 of these patients had undergone clinical, hematological and angiographic controls 2--46 (mean 10) months after the operation. The critical evaluation of the results shows that the Warren derivation, which is selective at the moment of operation, develops in the following time some hepatofugal circulation. This is a more radical effect than the intended drainage of the gastro-esophageal venous bed alone.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

[Distal termino-lateral spleno-renal anastomosis, using the Warren technic].

The authors describe 23 cases of distal splenorenal derivation after Warren. Of these patients, 17 received a complete followup clinical hematological and angiographic examination at an average remove of 10 months after surgery. The authors discuss their results and submit that the Warren operation, while really selcetive in most cases when performed, in the long run tends to shung rather too much blood away from the liver; in other words, the effectiveness of the shunt tends to exceed the intended drainage,which should be restricted to the gastro-esophageal vascular bed.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Selective arterial embolization in renal tumors.

Selective arterial embolization with Gelfoam was performed in 45 cases of hypernephroma. In 33 cases this technique has been utilized as preoperative procedure and almost always (97%) nephrectomy was facilitated: 97% of the cases had slight or moderate operative bleeding; in 82% of the cases separation of the tumor-containing kidney from adjacent tissues was easy. Embolization has been employed in 12 inoperable patients and was effective mainly in management of bleeding. Angiographic controls after embolization (from 13 to 162 days) were performed 8 times and it was assessed that the efficacy of the procedure on primary tumor growth is limited in time by renal artery revascularization. The embolized patients never presented severe complications, except several episodes of transitory renal failure.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1978

Angiography in chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. A critical evaluation.

A critical "blind" evaluation of 129 randomly selected angiographic examinations was carried out including 37 control patients, 58 patients affected by proven chronic relapsing pancreatitis and 34 patients with cancer of the pancreas. In 48.5% of the control patients a completely normal angiographic picture was found. The false positives were found in 10.8% of chronic pancreatitis and in pancreatic carcinoma in 5.5% of the cases. Equivocal signs were found in 35.2%. The percentage of the false negative results in chronic pancreatitis was 34.4% (of which 8.6% were suggestive of pancreatic cancer). In pancreatic cancer positive results were seen in 70.6% of the cases. The percentage of the false negatives was 26.5% (suggestive of chronic pancreatitis); equivocal signs were found in 2.9% of these patients. Notwithstanding the not-negligible percentage of errors, angiography can be usefully employed in diagnosis of pancreatic disorders.

Adult↗