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Biomedical subjects

L Costa

Publications and source records attributed to L Costa.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

[Paget's disease: a case history, clinical and therapeutic contribution].

The authors, after referring the various pathogenetic hypotheses for Paget's disease (till the latest hypothesis of infection by slow-action virus) report their follow-up of forty-five patients with Paget's disease of bone; then explain their diagnostic method, and record complications stressing the sarcomatous degeneration. Finally they give details on their therapeutic treatment emphasizing the need of hematochemical and radiographic periodical controls in order to optimize the treatment case by case.

Adult↗

[Precancerous oral lesions. Diagnostic and therapeutic protocol].

The NRC (National Research Council) task force on head and neck cancer issued this document to help clinicians involved in diagnosing and treating precancerous oral diseases. Chapter 1 includes definition, epidemiology, risk factors (alcohol, smoking, poor oral hygiene), WHO classification, clinical picture of leukoplakias, erythroplasia, lichen planus, as well as their natural history. Chapter 2 points out the clinical signs to be looked for in order to make a proper diagnosis and discusses biopsy techniques. Chapter 3 deals with therapeutic procedures (surgical technique and medical treatment), while Chapter 4 concerns follow-up according to the clinical and histological diagnosis. Finally, some statistical forms are enclosed: Form 1 consists of information regarding educational qualifications, occupation, alcohol consumption, smoking and dietary habits; Form 2 consists of information about previous diseases and the history of the present disease; Form 3 records the signs and symptoms observed for the precancerous lesion; Form 4 records treatment modalities; Form 5 records patient follow-up.

Humans↗

Direct detection of paramagnetic species in adriamycin perfused rat hearts.

Direct detection of paramagnetic species in control and adriamycin-perfused rat hearts has been carried out. Depending on the flow rate of the perfusion solution (8,4,2 and 1 ml/min) different paramagnetic species were observed: Fe(III)(g = 2.12) at 4 ml/min; three types of oxygen centered radicals of which two in control hearts (g = 2.05 g = 2.038 g = g = 2.008) and the third one (g = 2.03 g = 2.005) in adriamycin perfused hearts, at 2 ml/min. The latter radical was the only one observed at perfusion rate of 1 ml/min both in control and adriamycin treated systems. A relationship between the intracellular enzymatic reductive activation of the anthracycline and the occurrence of ischemic conditions (4,2 and 1 ml/min) in myocardial tissues is proposed basing on the relative amounts of the paramagnetic species above mentioned.

Animals↗

Discriminative stimulus properties of muscarinic agonists.

In a two-lever, food-reinforced drug-discrimination paradigm separate groups of rats were trained to discriminate either arecoline, pilocarpine or oxotremorine from saline. The discriminative cues of all three agonists were potently blocked by scopolamine, but only by 30-60 fold higher doses of methylscopolamine. The three agonists all suppressed overall response rate. These rate-suppressant effects were not blocked by scopolamine in doses which blocked the discriminative cues. In generalization tests, arecoline elicited selection of the drug-appropriate lever in all groups of trained animals. Pilocarpine was discriminated as drug by all pilocarpine-trained animals and by a majority of oxotremorine-trained animals, but was not significantly discriminated by the arecoline-trained group. Oxotremorine was discriminated by all oxotremorine-trained animals but only by some pilocarpine-trained animals, and was not significantly discriminated by the arecoline-trained group. Morphine, haloperidol, chlordiazepoxide, pentobarbital and nicotine were not generalized to any of the training drugs. The discriminative stimuli produced by the training drugs are therefore specific and exhibit properties indicative of an origin at central muscarinic receptors but may not be identical.

Animals↗

Excision of oral leukoplakias by CO2 laser on an out-patient basis: a useful procedure for prevention and early detection of oral carcinomas.

Several epidemiologic studies have shown that oral cancer develops among individuals with a prior diagnosis of an oral premalignant lesion. Canceration chance in these patients is 17%, with the greatest rate occurring in the second year of observation. Based on this data, since 1981, 92 leukoplakias have been treated by out-patient laser surgery at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milano. The therapeutic technique was laser excision to obtain a specimen for histology. Two groups were distinguished according to the diagnostic procedure. Thirty-three lesions (December 1981 to December 1982) were operated on without preliminary histologic examination, on the basis of a simple clinical diagnosis. Since January 1983 all leukoplakias have been biopsied in a systematic way and those negative for cancer treated with laser. Histology of the specimen showed 5 squamous cell carcinomas (15%) in the group of patients who did not undergo preoperative biopsy. Postoperative histology showed malignancy in 6 of 59 (10.2%) cases in spite of negative preoperative biopsies. Speckled and erosive leukoplakias had the highest canceration rate. Three of 11 patients with cancer were treated by knife excision or interstitial needle implantation because of margins in tumoral tissue or because they were not evaluable for injury by heat. Results have been satisfactory, only 2 of 54 followed leukoplakias and none of the cancers recurred during a 2 year follow-up.

Adult↗

Professional nursing practice in neurology ambulatory care.

The ambulatory care setting is an important expanding area for professional nursing practice. The demand for ambulatory care nurses is stimulating the definition and development of professional nursing practices in outpatient clinics. Neurology ambulatory care at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md, is provided in the context of contributing to biomedical research. This article discusses the components of patient selection criteria, experimental therapy, and research data collection that have implications for nursing care. Visit categories are used to discuss administrative and practice issues of the research patient population at all institutes. Management plans are discussed, and a case study is presented along with a care plan.

Adult↗

[Correlation between QT interval, ventricular arrhythmias and left ventricular function in chronic alcoholics].

Prolonged QT interval and arrhythmias have been reported to occur in chronic alcoholics. To investigate the role of chronic alcohol consumption in the onset of arrhythmias and the development of the preclinical left ventricular dysfunction, in a group of 12 asymptomatic chronic alcoholics with no clinical evidence of heart disease, with histologically proven hepatic damage, after a week of abstinence from alcohol, the following investigations were performed: measurements of the corrected QT interval (QTc), 24-hours Holter monitoring, systolic time intervals, M-mode echocardiograms. The results were compared to those of 10 normal subjects. Our data suggested no difference in QTc interval between chronic alcoholics and normal persons. The distribution of arrhythmias was not statistically different in the two groups, particularly frequent and complicated arrhythmias occurred in only one subject in each group. Preejection period corrected for heart rate (PEPI) was significantly longer in alcoholics (132 +/- 16 vs 119 +/- 11, p less than 0.05). All echocardiographic parameters examined were not significantly different in the two groups. On the basis of our results, our impression is that the arrhythmogenic role of alcohol, not under acute ingestion, is relatively unimportant and further studies are needed to become a definitive conclusion about subclinical alcoholic cardiomyopathy.

Adult↗

Ear asymmetries in dichotic listening tasks which increase in difficulty.

Accuracy and laterality of ear preference in repeating 2, 3 and 4 word pairs (WP) of dichotic stimuli in English and French were determined in 80 right-handed subjects (anglophone/francophone, male/female), who were tested in both their native language (L1) and nonnative language (L2). Relative performance accuracy decreased as a function of word pairs per trial (from 2 to 4) as well as language (from L1 to L2). Right-lateral preference in turn increased as a function of WP (from 2 to 4) as well as language (L1 to L2). Right-ear advantage (REA) in L2 decreased as a function of language proficiency (low to high). REA was observed in over 90% of subjects. A rationale for greater lateralization of L2 performance is offered.

Adolescent↗

Practical application of the Bristol Perinatal Growth Chart to Mediterranean populations.

The Bristol Perinatal Growth Chart (gestogram) has been applied to different Mediterranean populations and compared to traditional percentile intrauterine growth charts. The opinion is stressed that the gestogram system can successfully replace traditional intrauterine growth charts and offers the advantage of greater simplicity and adaptability.

Birth Weight↗

Clinical neuropsychology: a discipline in evolution.

The future of neuropsychology is considered first in terms of the potential impact of events occurring in clinical medicine, neuroscience research, basic behavioral science and applied psychology, and related disciplines. The focus is then turned inward on clinical neuropsychology itself and a series of suggestions are made concerning how this specialty can evolve to best meet the challenges it will face.

Brain Damage, Chronic↗