Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Fusco

Publications and source records attributed to G Fusco.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Neosporosis in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in Southern Italy.

A study was carried on 1377 water buffalo serum samples from 50 farms in southern Italy to test the presence of Neospora caninum antibodies by indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT). Rabbit anti-buffalo immunoglobulins conjugated to fluorescein were used in the test. Fluorescence in sera dilutions above 1:200 was considered as indicative of the presence of N. caninum antibodies. The overall prevalence of infection in the animals was 34.6%. The prevalence increased in relation to the age of subjects and most of the herds examined (82%) were found infected. In two farms abortions and neurological signs were reported. No suppurative inflammatory lesions were seen, but few protozoan-like cysts were observed on foetal tissues by histology.

Abortion, Veterinary↗
PubMed1997

[Reintervention in mitral valve prostheses. Analysis of risk factors].

From 1980 to 1996, 111 patients (83 females, 28 males, mean age 51.47 +/- 15.73 years, range 1-76) underwent mitral valve replacement. Seventy-five patients underwent replacement of a biological valve and 36 of a mechanical valve. Three patients underwent a third operation. Seventy prostheses were replaced because of a structural dysfunction. Other causes of valve failure were: 24 thrombosis (23 mechanical and 1 biological), 10 endocarditis (7 mechanical, 3 biological) and 4 leakages (3 mechanical and 1 biological). One patient who had recurrent anticoagulant-related haemorrhage underwent reoperation to replace his mechanical valve with a biological prosthesis. Two patients had their valve replaced because of mismatch between size of the valve and body surface area. Thirteen operations were performed on emergency and 29 on urgency. There were 22 in-hospital deaths with a hospital mortality of 19.82%. Fourteen deaths (63.63%) occurred in patients operated on emergency or urgency. All deceased patients were in NYHA functional class III or IV. Our data suggest that risk of reoperation on mitral prosthesis is highly influenced by the preoperative functional class. In spite of the fact that replacement of biological valves should be more elective than that of mechanical valves, we did not find any difference between the two groups of patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

[Thrombocytopenia and thrombophilic state in heparin therapy].

The authors report two clinical cases of thrombocytopenia and thrombosis which occurred during profilaxys and therapy with heparin. The mechanisms involved are reviewed and the possible therapeutic role of heparin-like drugs is discussed according to data presented in the international literature.

Anticoagulants↗
PubMed1994

Screening for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with Child's A cirrhosis: an 8-year prospective study by ultrasound and alphafetoprotein.

One hundred and forty-seven patients with Child's A cirrhosis and no evidence of hepatocellular carcinoma were followed up in an 8-year prospective surveillance program with testing by ultrasound and alphafetoprotein every 6 months. Eighteen of 147 patients were HBsAg positive. Anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies were found in 103 out of 133 cases tested. Sixteen patients had a history of heavy drinking. Thirty hepatocellular carcinomas were detected during follow up. At the time of diagnosis, ultrasound detected focal lesions in all the patients whereas alphafetoprotein was below diagnostic levels. The hepatocellular carcinoma was single in 26 patients and multiple in four. The overall 8-year cumulative tumor-free rate was 69% (95% confidence interval = 58-73). The yearly hepatocellular carcinoma incidence from 1985 to 1992 was respectively 2%, 1.5%, 2%, 3%, 5%, 4.8%, 7% and 10%. The initial value of AFP > 50 ng/ml and < 400 ng/ml was significantly related to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. This series shows that the cumulative incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis in Italy is higher than previously reported, but lower than that observed in Asiatic areas. A 6-month interval for ultrasound is reasonable to detect treatable tumors. Alphafetoprotein has no value for early diagnosis, although its intermediate values (> 50 and < 400 ng/ml) may indicate the presence of undetectable cancer which will appear during the follow up, and suggests that ultrasound should be employed more frequently in patients with these values.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Baldness and coronary heart disease risk factors.

The present report focuses on the association between baldness pattern and coronary heart disease risk factors in 872 male factory workers from southern Italy participating in an epidemiological study. Participants were divided according to presence or absence of baldness and baldness pattern. Participants with fronto-occipital baldness (male-type baldness) (n = 280) characterized by hair loss centered over the vertex with an m-shaped frontal-temporal recession had, on the average, higher serum cholesterol and blood pressure compared to participants with no baldness (n = 321) and/or participants with just frontal baldness (n = 273). For serum cholesterol, a significant interaction was detected between age and fronto-occipital baldness (i.e. the association between fronto-occipital baldness and elevated levels of serum cholesterol became weaker with age). No interaction was detectable between age and fronto-occipital baldness for blood pressure. The results of this cross-sectional study indicate that male-type pattern of baldness is associated with elevated CHD risk profile, and that this relation between age and serum cholesterol differs in younger compared to older men.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Intravenous anesthesia with perfused propofol combined with loco-regional spinal anesthesia].

The authors review the advantages and disadvantages of general and regional anesthesia in bad clinical conditions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Blended Anesthesia (association of general anesthesia with a regional technique) in 25 patients belonging to ASA classes II-III-IV, undergoing surgery for various disease. General anesthesia was provided by perfusion of propofol, after a peridural or subarachnoid continuous anesthesia was started. Patients were either in spontaneous or controlled ventilation. There were no cases of hypotension or other important side effects and the majority of patients judged good the anesthetic technique in regard to lack of pain, exhaustion and recall of operation.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

[Nutritional support in patients with relapsing chronic respiratory failure].

The authors review the scientific data on nutritional problems in patients with acute decompensation of COPD and present their own experience in the nutritional management of such condition. Artificial nutrition (enteral and parenteral) allowed a reduction in the duration of hospitalization, a lower incidence of infections, and a shorter weaning time from mechanical ventilation in comparison to a homogeneous group of patients treated in the same unit in an earlier period, when less attention was paid to nutritional problems. The importance of artificial nutrition in patients with acute decompensation of COPD is highlighted.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Coping and blood pressure.

The relationship between psychological coping strategies and BP was analysed in a group of 158 southern Italian men and women aged 20-59, randomly selected from an epidemiological study on coronary heart disease risk factors. Coping strategies were evaluated by use of a self-administered questionnaire (Jalowiec Coping Scale) listing 40 frequently used strategies. Factor analysis revealed the reported use of 5 different coping strategies. Males, on average, reported seeking less external support than females. In both sexes, increased years of education were associated with increased use of solution-oriented coping strategies and decreased use of resignation and sympathy seeking. After adjustment for age, alcohol use, body mass index, education and smoking, increased use of resignation was associated with lowered BP in both sexes. Emotional coping was inversely related to BP in males, but not in females. The search for external support was associated with a higher BP only in males. These data provide some evidence to suggest that psychological coping modalities are related to blood pressure.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Serum selenium and coronary heart disease risk factors in southern Italian men.

The association between serum selenium concentration and a number of coronary heart disease risk factors is studied in 364 males from southern Italy participating in the Olivetti Heart Study. Selenium correlates positively and significantly with serum cholesterol (r = 0.120; P = 0.022), and this positive association persists after adjustment for age and body mass index. Selenium levels in heavy smokers are lower than both light smokers and current non-smokers, but these differences do not reach statistical significance. Selenium is not significantly associated with any of the other CHD risk factors (e.g., triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure, age, and body mass index). It is hypothesized that the association between selenium and serum cholesterol reported in this and previous studies could be due to dietary interrelationships between selenium intake and foods that affect serum cholesterol concentrations.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Correlates of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in a sample of healthy workers.

METHODS: Correlates of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol are analyzed in a sample of 797 male workers in southern Italy participating in the Olivetti Heart Study. At the univariate level high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations are positively related to alcohol consumption (r = 0.127; P less than or equal to 0.001) and sport activity (r = 0.074; P less than or equal to 0.05) and inversely related to body mass index (r = -0.160; P less than or equal to 0.001), serum triglycerides (r = -0.349; P less than or equal to 0.001), cigarette smoking (r = -0.227; P less than or equal to 0.001), and coffee consumption (r = -0.153; P less than or equal to 0.001). RESULTS: In the group as a whole, body mass index, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and serum triglycerides remain significantly related to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the multivariate model, while the association with coffee intake and sport activity loses statistical significance. A significant negative interaction is reported between physical activity and cigarette smoking, and a positive significant linear trend between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and sport activity is observed only in nonsmokers. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that body mass index, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, serum triglycerides, and sport activity are important correlates of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol but that the positive significant association between sport activity and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol is absent in smokers.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Self-similarity in biological classifications.

Size distributions of supraspecific taxa, e.g. genera, measured as the number of included subtaxa, e.g. species, are found to follow a power law. This behaviour has been verified for a number of taxa of different size and taxonomic rank, thus suggesting a fractal structure of biological classifications. This is regarded as probably dependent on evolutionary processes shaping the phylogenetic tree, especially speciation and extinction, as well as on the topological properties of developmental constraints and/or of the ecospace(s) with which the group has been confronted during its history. The role of taxonomic bias is deemphasized.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Allozyme divergence and phylogenetic relationships among Capra, Ovis and Rupicapra (Artyodactyla, Bovidae).

Genetic divergence and phylogenetic relationships between the chamois (Rupicaprini, Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra) and three species of the Caprini (Capra aegagrus hircus, Capra ibex ibex and Ovis ammon musimon) have been studied by multilocus protein electrophoresis. Dendrograms have been constructed both with distance and parsimony methods. Goat, sheep and chamois pair-wise genetic distances had very similar values. All the topologies showed that Capra, Ovis and Rupicapra originate from the same internode, suggesting the hypothesis of a common, and almost contemporaneous, ancestor. The estimated divergence times among the three genera ranged from 5.28 to 7.08 Myr. These findings suggest the need to reconsider the evolutionary relationships in the Capriae.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Asymptomatic hepatocellular carcinoma in Child's A cirrhosis. A comparison of natural history and surgical treatment.

The present study deals with the natural history of 37 asymptomatic patients with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, 25 with 2-9-cm tumors who were not surgically treated (first group) and 12 with tumors smaller than 4 cm who underwent resection (second group). All patients were in Child's A class. Two-year survival (according to life-table analysis by the Kaplan-Meier method) was 50% in the first group and 39% in the second group. This difference was not significant. In the first group no relation was found between survival and initial tumor size or alpha-fetoprotein levels. Ultrasound examinations at 3-mo intervals revealed the following patterns of tumor growth: (a) no significant growth during the follow-up (9 patients); (b) significant growth (tumor size at least doubling) only in the final stage of the disease (11 patients); (c) initial significant growth followed by a period of no increase in size (5 patients). These findings show that in our geographical area (a) 2-yr survival of untreated asymptomatic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma associated with cirrhosis does not differ from that of similar patients undergoing resection and (b) the tumor can exhibit long periods of no growth alternating with periods of exponential growth.

Aged↗