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Biomedical subjects

L Massimo

Publications and source records attributed to L Massimo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Predicted creatinine clearance to assess glomerular filtration rate in chronic renal disease in humans.

The work was designed to assess the suitability of both measured endogenous creatinine clearance (CCR) and predicted creatinine clearance (P-CCR) to evaluate GFR in chronic renal disease (CRD) by utilizing the renal clearance of inulin (CIN) as gold standard. A total of 124 subjects were studied (62 healthy, 62 with CRF). CCR significantly overestimated GFR in healthy subjects as well as in CRF, whereas P-CCR was identical to GFR. The CCR/CIN ratio which calculates the fractional creatinine clearance and provides a rough estimation of the contribution of creatinine secretion in explaining the differences between CCR and GFR was increased in CRD and especially in CRD of glomerular origin. The ration P-CCR/CIN was significantly lower than CCR/CIN in healthy subjects and in patients with CRD of glomerular origin. The data are against the use of CCR in assessing GFR in healthy subjects and in patients with CRD.

Creatinine↗
PubMed1991

Renal functional reserve.

The available data on renal reserve and on the fraction of filtration capacity utilized at rest in childhood are analyzed both in healthy state and in renal disease. The methodological problems which might have biased available information are also discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

MYCN amplification does not affect survival of neuroblastoma patients treated with autologous bone marrow transplantation.

From an extended series neuroblastoma cases evaluated for MYCN amplification (MNA) at the "G. Gaslini" Hospital 15 (4 with and 11 without NMA) underwent myeloablative therapy and bone marrow transplantation (MAT-ABMT). Such cases ranged in age at diagnosis from 13 months to 7 years and were followed up at least 8 months after MAT-ABMT. MNA was present in 2/10 cases dead for disease, in 0/1 cases alive with disease, and in 2/4 cases presently in complete clinical remission. This preliminary evidence would discourage to consider MNA as a marker capable of predicting the final outcome of patients with metastatic Nb.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗
PubMed1991

Renal hemodynamics, plasma amino acids and hormones after a meat meal in progressive nephron loss.

Ten patients with chronic renal failure (GFR 29-97 ml/min), on free diets providing 1 g/kg B.W. of proteins, ingested an oral protein load (meat meal, 2 g/kg B.W.). GFR and RPF increased significantly over baseline with no change in filtration fraction. Within 30 min of the meal and for the next 3 h a statistically significant increase was observed in the plasma concentrations of the following amino acid groups: essential, non-essential, total, branched-chain, ketogenic, glycogenic, glycogenic and ketogenic, basic, acid, polar and non-polar. At 30 min the smallest increase was seen in acid and polar amino acids (6.7% and 7.6%, respectively). At 180 min the largest increase (78.8%) was seen for glycogenic and ketogenic amino acids and total plasma amino acids were 1.58 times baseline. After the meat meal plasma glucagon and insulin rose significantly, while growth hormone, plasma renin activity and aldosterone did not vary.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Congenital lactic acidosis due to a defect of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (E1). Clinical, biochemical, nerve biopsy study and effect of therapy.

We report an 8-year-old patient with clinical features suggesting Leigh's syndrome and with a decreased activity of the E1 component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in cultured skin fibroblasts. A nerve biopsy showed the presence of severe peripheral neuropathy, rarely described in the literature. The partial correction of lactic acidosis with oral sodium bicarbonate chronic therapy may result in a slow evolution of the clinical symptoms.

Acidosis, Lactic↗
PubMed1987

N-myc oncogene amplification in a patient with IV-S neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a tumor usually arising in children and young adults showing different degrees of malignancy. Recently, the presence of N-myc amplification in neuroblasts has been associated with a poor outcome in the late stages of disease (Evans's Stage IV). Until now no amplification of N-myc gene has been observed in Stage IV-S, usually considered to have a favorable prognosis. In this paper we report a case of a child affected by NB Stage IV-S showing mild N-myc gene amplification. The finding of N-myc amplification in our patient shows that such alteration of the N-myc oncogene is not necessarily correlated with a poor prognosis; in this light the role of N-myc amplification in the neoplastic process should be reconsidered.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗
PubMed1986

EBNA-negative polyclonal B cells derived from a long-term culture of unclassified acute lymphoblastic leukemia: IL-2-like activity of culture's supernatant.

A long-term culture of bone marrow lymphoblasts in a case of unclassified acute lymphoblastic leukemia is described. Cells lacking any lymphocytic marker in the early phase of the culture were gradually substituted by B cells showing a pattern of polyclonality. The culture supernatant contained high levels of immunoglobulins also showing interleukin 2 activity. Search for antigens related to the Epstein-Barr virus was negative. A clonal expansion of B cells versus spontaneous differentiation of unclassified leukemic cells is discussed; the long-term culture technique as a tool for a better evaluation of leukemic cells is suggested and discussed.

Antigens, Surface↗
PubMed1986

Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type I: report of a pair of siblings.

Two siblings affected with congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type I are described. They are the sixth familial occurrence reported. Particularly interesting is the comparison between the course and laboratory data of our cases. An unusual finding is the presence of the antigen 'i' on the erythrocytes of both patients.

Anemia, Dyserythropoietic, Congenital↗
PubMed1986

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation versus chemotherapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in second remission.

Thirty-six children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in second remission were treated with conventional chemotherapy or with cyclophosphamide and fractionated total-body irradiation followed by an allogeneic bone marrow transplant; the choice of treatment was dictated by the availability of an HLA-identical sibling. The age, sex, clinical data at presentation of the disease and duration of first remission were comparable for the two groups of patients. In the bone marrow transplantation group two patients died of graft-versus-host disease and five of leukaemia. Ten patients survive, nine disease free, 13-53 months from second remission (6-51 months post-bone marrow transplantation). In the chemotherapy group 14 patients died of leukaemia (2-29 months from second remission) and five survive (22-34 months from second remission). The actuarial survival for patients with bone marrow transplantation is 48% at 4 years as compared with 22% for those of the chemotherapy group (P = 0.04); the actuarial probabilities of being in remission are 58 and 18% in the two groups respectively (P = 0.01). This study confirms that allogeneic bone marrow transplantation is superior to chemotherapy in patients in second remission with ALL and should be considered in the presence of an HLA-identical sibling.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1985

Clonal development from a progenitor with restricted differentiative expression in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Three patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and heterozygous for the Mediterranean variant of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) have been investigated with the 2-deoxyglucose-6-phosphate (2dG6P) method to determine the number and type of progenitor cells in which the disease arose. A monoclonal origin was established for the lymphoblasts, while the other hemopoietic cell lines were not involved in the leukemic process.

Child↗
PubMed1984

Early deaths in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL): results of the Italian Pediatric Cooperative Group for Therapy of Acute Leukemia (AIL-AIEOP).

In this retrospective multicentric study, we report on early deaths (ie, those that occurred during the first month of treatment) in a total of 943 newly diagnosed ALL pediatric patients registered from 1976 to 1981 at 21 centers of the AIL- AIEOP . Objectives of this study were as follows: (1) to verify the incidence and the cause of early death in a wide population of children with ALL and (2) to elucidate factors associated with early death and therefore to identify "high-risk" groups of patients. Out of the 943 ALL patients, 39 (4.1%) early deaths were registered. Main causes were infection, 20 patients (51.3%); hemorrhage, 11 patients (28.3%); uric acid nephropathy, 2 patients (5.1%); cardiac failure, 3 patients (7.6%); syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion, 1 patient. Two patients died during the first week of unknown cause. Thirteen factors measured at diagnosis and possibly influencing the early death rate were analyzed. Using the chi-square test, only three of these factors (age, mediastinum status, surface markers) appear to have any significant influence on the early death rate. We also tried to determine how therapy influences this process by analyzing variations in the early death rate, other factors being equal. Significant differences in the early death rates were encountered in AIEOP protocols using different induction regimens.

Adolescent↗