Biomedical subjects

G Caselli

Publications and source records attributed to G Caselli.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1996

Athlete's heart in women. Echocardiographic characterization of highly trained elite female athletes.

UNLABELLED: OBJECTIVES; To define the expression of "athlete's heart" in women by determining the alterations in cardiac dimensions associated with long-term intense conditioning in elite female athletes. DESIGN; Prospective cardiovascular assessment conducted from 1986 through 1993. Subjects were evaluated using 2-dimensional, M-mode, and Doppler echo-cardiographic studies. SETTING: Institute of Sports Science, Italian National Olympic Committee, Rome, Italy. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 600 elite female athletes (mean age, 21 years; range, 12-49 years) who had participated in vigorous training (mean duration, 9 years; range, 2-32 years) and had competed in 27 sports, including 211 athletes at the international level and 389 at the national level. A control group consisted of 65 sedentary volunteer women (mean age, 23.7 years; range, 14-41 years) who were free of cardiovascular disease and who did not participate in regular athletic training. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Left ventricular end-diastolic cavity dimension and wall thickness. RESULTS: Athletes demonstrated larger left ventricular end-diastolic cavity dimension (mean +/- SD) (49 +/- 4 mm) and greater maximal wall thickness (8.2 +/- 0.9 mm) than controls (46 +/- 3 mm and 7.2 +/- 0.6 mm; P < .001). These dimensions were 6% and 14% larger in athletes. Among athletes, left ventricular cavity dimension was 40 mm to 66 mm, exceeded normal limits ( > 54 mm) in 47 women (8%), and was within the range consistent with primary dilated cardiomyopathy ( > or = 60 mm) in 4 athletes (1%). Training for endurance sports, such as cycling, cross-country skiing, and rowing had the greatest effect on cavity dimension. Left ventricular wall thickness was 6 mm to 12 mm in athletes and did not exceed normal limits or extend into the borderline gray zone with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in any subject. Compared with data from 738 previously studied male athletes, female athletes showed significantly smaller left ventricular cavity dimension (11% less; P < .001) and wall thickness (23% less; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Highly trained women athletes frequently demonstrate cardiac dimensional changes as an adaptation to physical training, although absolute left ventricular cavity size exceeding normal limits was evident in a minority (8%) of women athletes and was rarely (1% of athletes) within the range of dilated cardiomyopathy. Athletic training was not a stimulus for substantial increases in absolute left ventricular wall thickness, which was within normal limits for all women athletes. These findings suggest that the clinical differentiation of athlete's heart and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy appears to be a diagnostic dilemma that is limited to male athletes.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

IL-1 beta primes IL-8-activated human neutrophils for elastase release, phospholipase D activity, and calcium flux.

Interleukin-8 (IL-8), the prototype of the alpha (e.i., C-X-C branch) chemokine family, induced elastase release in a concentration-dependent manner (50-1000 ng/mL) in cytochalasin B-treated human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). This response was potentiated about twofold if PMNs were preexposed to interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) at concentrations that were by themselves inactive. The effect of IL-1 beta was clearly observed after 5 min and was maximal after a 30-min preincubation of the cells. The effect was present over the whole active concentration range of IL-8 and was completely blocked by the presence of IL-1 receptor antagonist. Priming of elastase release by IL-1 beta was not associated with a change in receptor number or affinity for IL-8. On the contrary, it was correlated with priming of phospholipase D activity and calcium flux activated by IL-8. Preincubation of the cells with ethanol and/or La3+ inhibited IL-8-induced degranulations, suggesting that activation of phospholipase D and increase of [Ca2+]i were important for this response. In contrast, ethanol and La3+ did not decrease the priming effect of IL-1 beta. IL-8 and IL-1 beta have been shown to be released by the same cell types and may be concomitantly present at sites of inflammation, giving rise to an amplification of the inflammatory response.

Calcium↗

PubMed1996

Ventricular arrhythmias and athlete's heart. Role of signal-averaged electrocardiography.

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and the prognostic value of ventricular late potentials in apparently healthy top-level athletes with ventricular arrhythmias, and the effect of physiological myocardial hypertrophy (athlete's heart) on the electrogenesis of the signal-averaged electrocardiogram (ECG). Two groups of asymptomatic athletes without underlying heart disease were studied: group A consisted of 35 athletes without arrhythmias and group B of 25 athletes with frequent and complex ventricular arrhythmias (ventricular ectopic beats > 5000.24 h-1 and ventricular couplets > 15.24 h-1). Late potentials were present if athletes had significantly prolonged filtered QRS and low amplitude signal duration and low root mean square voltages at both 25-250 Hz and 40-250 Hz filters. While late potentials were absent in all normal athletes of group A, they were present in seven of 25 (28%) athletes with arrhythmias of group B (P < 0.003). Ten of 25 athletes (five with and five without late potentials) of group B underwent programmed ventricular stimulation using a protocol comprising up to three extrastimuli. No episode of sustained ventricular tachycardia was induced. In four of five athletes with late potentials and in one of five without them, unsustained ventricular responses were induced. Echocardiographically determined left ventricular mass found in both groups of athletes did not influence the pathological result of the signal-averaged ECG parameters. This study shows the applicability of the signal-averaged ECG in identifying ventricular late potentials in a selected population of top-level athletes with frequent and complex ventricular arrhythmias and without overt heart disease; it also shows that the presence of late potentials is not influenced by left ventricular mass, even if extreme ( > 350 g), and it is correlated to a non-sustained ventricular response during an electrophysiological study.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed1995

The key phases of the European health transition.

"This paper will attempt to analyse the health transition [in Europe] from 1910.... The different steps in mortality trends, both in quantitative terms and with regard to structural changes by age and cause, will also be analysed and compared where possible to the far reaching changes which marked the history of mortality in Europe. An attempt at synthesis will be performed, using the data on life expectancy at birth in 1910 onwards until recent times. Particular focus will be placed on the more significant stages of the decline in mortality by age and the cause of death...."

Age Factors↗

PubMed1994

Morphology of the "athlete's heart" assessed by echocardiography in 947 elite athletes representing 27 sports.

In the present study, we used echocardiography to investigate the morphologic adaptations of the heart to athletic training in 947 elite athletes representing 27 sports who achieved national or international levels of competition. Cardiac morphology was compared for these sports, using multivariate statistical models. Left ventricular (LV) diastolic cavity dimension above normal (> 54 mm, ranging up to 66 mm) was identified in 362 (38%) of the 947 athletes. LV wall thickness above normal (> 12 mm, ranging up to 16 mm) was identified in only 16 (1.7%) of the athletes. Athletes training in the sports examined showed considerable differences with regard to cardiac dimensions. Endurance cyclists, rowers, and swimmers had the largest LV diastolic cavity dimensions and wall thickness. Athletes training in sports such as track sprinting, field weight events, and diving were at the lower end of the spectrum of cardiac adaptations to athletic training. Athletes training in sports associated with larger LV diastolic cavity dimensions also had higher values for wall thickness. Athletes training in isometric sports, such as weightlifting and wrestling, had high values for wall thickness relative to cavity dimension, but their absolute wall thickness remained within normal limits. Analysis of gender-related differences in cardiac dimensions showed that female athletes had smaller LV diastolic cavity dimension (average 2 mm) and smaller wall thickness (average 0.9 mm) than males of the same age and body size who were training in the same sport.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Absence of left ventricular wall thickening in athletes engaged in intense power training.

There is a widely held perception that power training increases left ventricular (LV) wall thickness. Consequently, in individual power-trained athletes, confusion may legitimately occur with regard to the differential diagnosis of athlete's heart and nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. To investigate the effects of systematic strength training on cardiac dimensions (particularly absolute LV wall thickness), 100 relatively young and highly conditioned athletes participating in weight and power lifting, wrestling, bobsledding and weight-throwing events for 3 to 24 years (mean 7) were studied by echocardiography. No athlete showed a maximal absolute LV wall thickness that exceeded the generally accepted upper limits of normal (i.e., 12 mm; range 8 to 12). When compared with 26 normal, sedentary control subjects of similar age and body surface area, maximal septal thickness was mildly but significantly greater in athletes (9.6 +/- 0.8 vs 9.0 +/- 0.5 mm; p < 0.001), as was the calculated LV mass index (96 +/- 12 vs 81 +/- 8 g/m2; p < 0.001); LV end-diastolic cavity dimension was similar in athletes and controls (55 +/- 4 and 54 +/- 3, respectively; p > 0.05). Consequently, echocardiographic data in this selected group of purely strength-trained athletes show that whereas this form of conditioning is associated with increased LV mass and a disproportionate increase in wall thickness in relation to cavity dimension, only modest alterations in absolute wall thickness occur (which do not exceed upper normal limits). Therefore, in highly conditioned, strength-trained, competitive athletes, the presence of substantial LV wall thickening (> 13 mm) should suggest alternative explanations, such as the diagnosis of pathologic hypertrophy (i.e., hypertrophic cardiomyopathy).

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Usefulness of transesophageal pacing during exercise for evaluating palpitations in top-level athletes.

The aim of this study was to verify the use of transesophageal atrial pacing in reproducing tachyarrhythmias in 22 top-level athletes symptomatic for palpitations, with no evidence of arrhythmias or cardiac anomalies by the standard noninvasive diagnostic techniques. The transesophageal stimulation protocol was divided in 2 sections: at rest and during exercise on the bicycle ergometer in the upright position. Although transesophageal pacing at rest did not induce any arrhythmias in 18 of 22 athletes, during exercise it induced tachyarrhythmias. This occurred in all 16 athletes who had palpitations during physical activity. Electrophysiologic characteristics of induced atrial tachyarrhythmia suggested reentry within the atrioventricular node in 9 of 18 athletes: atrial fibrillation in 5, atrial flutter in 2, orthodromic reciprocating tachycardia due to concealed anomalous pathway in 1, and automatic atrial tachycardia in 1. This study stresses the clinical importance of palpitations during physical exercise and shows that transesophageal pacing performed during exercise is an important diagnostic tool in reproducing the previously described symptoms and in detecting the underlying tachyarrhythmias.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Congenital anorchia: natural history and treatment.

This paper discusses the definition, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of congenital anorchia. It concludes that preparations containing esters of testosterone are preferable to synthetic derivatives for long-term treatment as they are metabolized in the same way as endogenous testosterone. In addition, it appears that recommended doses for replacement therapy are lower than previously suggested. An ideal formulation of testosterone for use in androgen replacement therapy is not currently available.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Determination of nuvenzepine in human plasma by a sensitive [3H]pirenzepine radioreceptor binding assay.

A sensitive method for the quantitation of small amounts of nuvenzepine, a new M1-selective antimuscarinic drug, in plasma is described. The analytical method involves the use of a radioreceptor binding assay based on [3H]pirenzepine displacement in rat cerebral cortex homogenates; no previous extraction is required. The method is reliable, with an interassay CV ranging from 5 to 10%, and allows the analysis of greater than 100 samples/experiment. The limit of detection is approximately 0.1 ng/assay. Using this method we have determined the plasma levels of nuvenzepine in eight healthy volunteers treated PO with 15 or 25 mg of nuvenzepine.HCl. The pharmacokinetic parameters obtained were (for 15 and 25 mg): Cmax, 64 and 131 ng/mL; AUC0-infinity, 851 and 1379 ng.h/mL; t1/2, 8.6 and 7.2 h. These values are in good agreement with those obtained using an HPLC method. Therefore, this radioreceptor binding assay proved to be simple, rapid, and specific for the determination of low levels of nuvenzepine in human plasma.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed1990

Mortality and population ageing.

The authors examine the effects of mortality trends on age structure and how fertility and migration affect demograpnic aging. "Computations are done for both France and Italy on population ageing during the last 30 years as well as until the end of the official population projections around 2040. Though the ageing effect of fertility decline is usually emphasized, we can see here that the consequences of mortality changes are at least equally (and sometimes more) important. The case of the Italian projection is particularly fascinating. Even if the very low fertility level of 1.4 children per capita is maintained until the year 2040, more than half the increase in the proportion of the population aged 60 and over (from 21% to 43% for females) would be due to mortality change and slightly less to fertility change." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

Age Distribution↗

PubMed1990

Coronary arteries in physiological hypertrophy: echocardiographic evidence of increased proximal size in elite athletes.

One hundred and twenty-five healthy, male top-level athletes were evaluated by echocardiography (Echo) and assigned to six groups according to the size of the left ventricular mass (L. V. Mass), calculated according to Devereux R. B. et al.: less than or equal to 200, 201-250, 251-300, 301-350, 351-400, or greater than 400 g. Echo evaluation of coronary artery (c.a.) proximal size was performed following the method described by Kalavathy et al. (J Am Coll cardiol 1986, 8, 1119-1124). Two of us separately conducted the measurement of the c.a. diameter at congruent to 1 cm from the respective aortic ostium on M-Mode tracings and 2-D end-diastolic frames. The inter-observer variability was lower for the M-Mode (4.2%) than 2D (9.3%) measurements: the correlation between A and B observers equals r = 0.867 for the right c.a., and r = 0.859 for the left main c.a.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1990

When does a cohort's mortality differ from what we might expect?

The authors have developed a model to systematically analyze a matrix of mortality data. "Through its detailed description of the structure of the matrix, it offers the possibility of confirming certain hypotheses or of formulating new ones about the mortality experience of certain peculiar cohorts. The descriptive power of the method will be seen here in application to the French mortality experience over the period 1899-1981." This is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1988 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America.

Cause of Death↗

PubMed1989

[Benign breast pathology. Current approaches and personal experience].

The current approach to the treatment of benign breast pathology is outlined. After a review of the literature and a detailed classification of benign breast pathologies, the data from a retrospective study of a personal series are presented.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989