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G Invernizzi

Publications and source records attributed to G Invernizzi.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Real-time measurement of particulate matter deposition in the lung.

Air pollution and cigarette smoke are recognized health risks. A method was developed for the measurement of the deposition fraction (DF) of polydisperse particulate matter (PM) in human airways. Ten normal volunteers [three females, age range 18-67 years, mean age (SD) 43.9 (14)] made single breath exhalations after inhalation to total lung capacity. The exhaled breath was diverted to a multichannel laser diffraction chamber where the particulate profiler measured 0.3 - 1.0-microm particles. DF was inversely related to expiration flow-rate, 0.69 (0.02) at 4 l min-1 and 0.5 (0.01) at 13 l min-1, respectively (p<0.05), and was influenced by the inhalation flow-rate [0.70 (0.02) at 3 l min-1 and 0.59 (0.02) at 13 l min-1, respectively (p<0.05)], while no differences were found between nasal and oral inhalation (0.68 (0.05) versus 0.67 (0.06), p>0.05). Higher breath holding times were associated with elevated DF [0.74 (0.02) at 20 s, and 0.62 (0.05) without breath holding (p<0.01)]. When the expiratory flow was controlled and the breath hold time standardized, DF was reproducible (CV = 4.85%). PM can be measured in the exhaled breath and its DF can be quantified using a portable device. These methods may be useful in studies investigating the health effects of air pollution and tobacco smoke.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Carbon monoxide, cigarettes and family doctors.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: General practitioners could play a key role in preventive programs against tobacco-related diseases. However, they seldom take action in the office even with minimal advice counselling. Such behaviour might reflect the lack of academic teaching and the lack of practice with motivational and dependence questionnaires, considered basic tools to help smokers to quit successfully. The study was aimed to investigate the awareness of a sample of Italian family doctors as regards tobacco epidemiology and smoking cessation strategies. METHODS: A total of 428 family doctors were administered a questionnaire with a set of questions on their personal smoking habits and on personal initiatives in the office towards smokers. Another set of questions regarded their knowledge on tobacco issues, with special attention to carbon monoxide, which is widely perceived as a very dangerous poison and works as a motivational tool on smokers and adolescents. Carbon monoxide measurement was carried out on all participants to obtain objective data on smoking and to show the feasibility of the test. RESULTS: The percentage of self-reported current smokers among general practitioners was 24%, with a high prevalence of ex-smokers (46%), and 29% of never smokers. Family doctors were more keen to counsel adolescents than adults about tobacco, and they were very interested in continuing medical education on the issue. The doctors who took part in our study showed a surprising limited knowledge of all the issues associated with smoking cessation and prevention such as epidemiology, cigarette characteristics, success rate of smoking cessation programs, Fagerström's tolerance questionnaire, safety of nicotine replacement therapy and the knowledge of carbon monoxide as a product of cigarette smoke. CONCLUSIONS: The scenario depicted by our survey underscores the necessity to improve the knowledge and performance of primary care physicians on tobacco-related issues in order to implement primary and secondary prevention in clinical practice.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Indium-111-DTPA-octreotide scintigraphy modulation by treatment with unlabelled somatostatin analogue in small-cell lung cancer.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) tissue expresses somatostatin receptors and can be visualized by means of the indium-111-labelled somatostatin analogue DTPA-D-Pheoctreotide. The aim of the study was to investigate whether treatment with a cold somatostatin analogue can affect the imaging of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy. METHODS: Three patients with SCLC were treated with 200 micrograms of cold octreotide three times a day subcutaneously for 7 days. Whole body and planar scintigraphy was performed before and after the treatment. RESULTS: 111In-DTPA-octreotide uptake was increased in cancer lesions, whereas fixation in normal tissues (liver, spleen, kidneys) decreased. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first demonstration of an enhancement of SCLC imaging following unlabelled somatostatin analogue administration. Similar results have been described by other authors in a limited number of carcinoid tumors.

Carcinoma, Small Cell↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Indoor particulate matter measurement as a tool in the process of the implementation of smoke-free hospitals.

AIM OF THE STUDY: There are International and National standards that requires hospitals and health premises to be smoke-free. According to recent data from Italy and other European Countries, smoking is a widespread habit in hospitals. To get smoke-free hospitals in an Italian region, we have adopted the European Code for smoke-free hospitals, which sets standards and provides instruments for its implementation. According to the Code, whenever possible, each step towards a smoke-free hospital, should be shared by all staff. As a mean for achieving this goal, in our region the certification of single units as smoke-free units has been chosen. For getting the certification, besides implementing the Code, we planned to use ETS (Environmental Tobacco Smoke) monitoring, as ETS should not be present in hospitals. As a marker of ETS we have chosen Particulate Matter (PM), as it can easily be measured in real-time with a portable instrument and, when other even outdoor--sources of combustion can be ruled out, it is an accurate detector of cigarette smoke. Here the first experience of measuring PM in hospitals for monitoring ETS and certificating smoke-free health premises, is described. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PM measurements were carried out without any previous notification in different areas of two Network hospitals of the Veneto Region, during a single working day. A real time laser-operated aerosol mass analyser was used. Several classes of PM (PM1, PM2.5, PM7, PM10, TSP Total Suspended Particles) were measured. RESULTS: Outdoor PM levels were found to be repeatedly lower than the annual official limits of 65 mcg/m3 and around the 24 hour official limits of 15 mcg/m3 [15 to 20 mcg/m3, with an overall mean (+/-SD) of 17.8 (1.9)] throughout the whole day. Very good indoor air quality was found in the operating theaters and isolation department, where PM2.5 concentrations were much lower than outdoor levels [1.6 (0.9) and 5.9 (0.6) mcg/m3, respectively]. No increase in PM pollution was found in the surveyed medical offices, halls and waiting rooms where smoking was positively forbidden [PM2.5 concentrations of 14.8 (2.2) and 12.9 (1.1) mcg/m3] except in a medical office and in two coffee rooms for staff only where high PM levels were recorded [PM2.5 58.7 (29.1), 27.0 (10.6) and 107.1 (47.8) mcg/m3] and an offence of smoking restrictions could be proved. CONCLUSIONS: The measurement of PM in hospital for monitoring ETS proved to be both feasible and sensible. PM measurements with a portable instrument can be used both for controlling the compliance with rules or chosen standards and for educating staff about smoking related hazards, thus gaining consensus for the implementation of the tobacco control policy. In our experience, PM measurement can be used as an aid inside all actions designed by the European Code for smoke-free hospitals.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Left ventricle-right atrial communication. Surgical, hemodynamic and clinical aspects (author's transl)].

Anatomical, clinical radiographic and electrocardiographic aspects in 12 cases of left ventricle-right atrial communication are described. The usual severity and precocity of symptoms are outlined. At cardiac catheterization the level of the shunt was not found to be exactly correlated with the anatomic type of the defect; the mean QP/QS was 2,7 (1,4-5,8); only one case of pulmonary hypertension was detected and the mean RP/RS was 0,19 (0,06-0,83). Contrastographic aspects are emphasized and the importance of having two orthogonal projections is outlined. 9 patients underwent surgical repair with good results, except for the patient with pulmonary hypertension, who died soon after the operation: this patient shouldn't have been operated on. In all cases only right atriotomy was made, and the defect was closed by a dacron patch; no patient had a tricuspid plastic; one perforation and one cleft of the septal leaflet of the tricuspid valve were sutured directly. In view of the simplicity of surgical correction, wide indications are possible, considering, too, that there have been no reports on the spontaneous closure of the defect.

Angiocardiography↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The organization of a counselling service for the families of patients undergoing bone marrow transplant.

The organisation of our Counselling Service for the relatives of patients undergoing bone marrow transplant is structured in various phases. During the first phase, contact is established with the relatives. The therapist introduces himself to the relatives when the patient is hospitalized and enters the sterile ward. The second phase consists in an illustration of the objectives and purpose of the Service. During this phase, two weekly interviews lasting approximately one hour are proposed, plus assessment tests (CFI, Camberwell Family Interview--and MMPI--Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory). A third phase, which is often contextual to the presentation of the Service, consists in the recognition of the needs and suffering of the given relative. Here, the therapist acts as a receptacle for the anxieties and fear of death brought to him by the subject, thus empathetically accepting these states of mind and legitimizing them. Moreover, our model of intervention envisages the formation of support groups for the relatives of patients suffering from blood cancers. A further phase concerns the exchange of information between the two therapists helping, respectively, the relative and the patient, and also with medical and nursing staff. To further the same aims, for a number of years now, our Service has been organising intervention groups for nursing staff working at CTMO. The final phase is counselling, which takes place twice a week. There are two fundamental areas of intervention that must be taken into account for families of subjects suffering from blood cancers: providing information and offering support. From our experience, it emerges that the relatives need to obtain information on organic aspects of the illness and the transplant.

Anxiety↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Family expressed emotion. From research to therapeutic intervention].

The Expressed Emotion (EE) index is today one of the most important tools to evaluate the effect of family environment on the course of schizophrenia. The A. critically examine many experimental researches, performed on the EE index during the past 15 years, reporting the results of the first Italian replication study. The psychoeducational family interventions (originated by the EE research) are then considered, with particular attention to the treatment conceived by the team of the Association for the Research on Schizophrenia (A.R.S.). In the final section of the paper, the A. propose an extension of the EE research to families with chronic organic pathologies, reporting some preliminary results.

Emotions↗