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Biomedical subjects

F Mollica

Publications and source records attributed to F Mollica.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Serum IgE in polytransfused thalassemic patients.

Serum IgE was determined by radioimmunoassay in 28 subjects affected by homozygous beta thalassemia (14 males and 14 females, aged 3-19 years, mean age 7 +/- 5.6 years). They were given transfusions with packed red cells and chelant therapy. Blood samples were taken just before a transfusion (basal value) and at 10-day intervals (2-3 times) between transfusions. Serum IgE values were significantly increased in the thalassemic patients as compared with the control group. There was no relation between IgE and age, sex, skin allergy, familial atopy and splenectomy. Serum IgE was significantly higher in 7 subjects with a history of febrile non-hemolytic transfusion reactions. In the intertransfusional period there was a further serum IgE increase, which was statistically significant only in the older patients.

Adolescent↗

Increased serum phospholipids in epileptic children treated with phenobarbitone.

Plasma lipid concentration and post-heparin lipolytic activity in twenty-two epileptic children treated either with phenobarbitone or sodium valproate were evaluated. An increase of phospholipid was observed in whole blood as well as in the low-density nd high-density lipoproteins in patients undergoing phenobarbitone treatment. No change was found in subjects treated with sodium valproate. The enzyme activities were slightly, but not statistically significantly, increased in the two groups compared with the control subjects.

Child↗

Treatment of infantile spasms with sodium dipropylacetic acid.

Eighteen infants with infantile spasms were given sodium dipropylacetate at a dosage of 20mg/kg/day. They were clinically examined before treatment, and again after one to three years of therapy. The short-term clinical response was excellent in four patients, good in eight, poor in four and there was no change in two. At follow-up, two patients were clinically normal, but 10 had severe and six had moderate mental retardation. Seven patients still had residual seizures. Since these results do not differ significantly from those obtained with hormonal treatment, the authors suggest using sodium dipropylacetate (which has less frequent and less severe side-effects than adreno-corticotropic hormone) as the only initial drug, and to use hormonal treatment only in unresponsive patients.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

Accidental glibenclamide ingestion in an infant: clinical and electroencephalographic aspects.

The clinical and EEG features of an infant during and after a severe episode of glibenclamide-induced hypoglycaemia are reported, with a 12-month follow-up. The very few cases reported in the literature, together with the present report, suggest that the neurological sequelae of severe hypoglycaemia resulting from ingestion of this drug are due to more patchy involvement of the central nervous system than would be expected from experimental work on hypoglycaemia.

Cerebral Cortex↗

Familial centronuclear myopathy.

A girl with typical clinical and histologic features of centronuclear myopathy (CNM) is described. The electromyogram was clearly of myopathic type; the motor conduction velocity was reduced. The analysis of the pedigree, in which three other members were similarly affected, suggests autosomal dominant inheritance with low penetrance.

Blepharoptosis↗

Infantile spasms syndrome in monozygotic twins.

The infantile spasms syndrome appeared on the same day in a pair of monozygotic twins at age 6 months. Clinical, electroencephalographic, and neuroradiological findings during the development of the disease are reported. One of the twins was treated with ACTH and in his case clinical and electroencephalographic improvement was more rapid than in the other who was treated with clonazepam. While the computer tomography scan initially showed in each twin an area of low density in the right fronto-parietal region, this had disappeared in the tomograms obtained about 8 months later.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

Lymphocyte subpopulations in anaphylactoid purpura.

The immunoglobulins, complement components C3 and C4, lymphocyte subpopulations, and K-cell activity were studied in 13 children with anaphylactoid purpura and in 12 children of the same ages who acted as controls. The children with anaphylactoid purpura had significantly lower T-cell counts, greater K-cell activity and IgM values, and lower C3 levels than the controls.

Child↗

Effect of polyamines on autohemolysis: studies on normal and thalassemic children.

The effect of glucose and polyamines (putrescine, spermidine and spermine) on the rate of autohemolysis in normal and thalassemic red blood cell (RBC) populations has been investigated. In addition, the specific activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was measured on blood samples obtained from the same patients. Our results show that glucose, and to a less extent polyamines, reduce the autohemolysis of thalassemic RBC, and that specific activity of SOD is increased in RBC from thalassemic patients compared to normal subjects.

Child↗

Increased erythrocytic spermine in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Erythrocytes of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have been found to have elevated levels of spermine, a polyamine with a membrane-stabilizing action. Although a specific, increased spermine concentration is an additional biochemical abnormality documenting the involvement of erythrocyte membrane in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Normal level of spermine were found in female carriers.

Child↗

[Intrafamilial variation in congenital ophthalmoplegia: studies in a Sicilian family].

Nine members of a Sicilian family, in four successive generations, showed a congenital eye defect of much variable severity, from simple blepharoptosis to complete external ophthalmoplegia, without other ocular or extraocular abnormalities. The anomaly in this pedigree was transmitted as an autosomal dominant character with incomplete penetrance and extremely variable expressivity.

Female↗