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Biomedical subjects

L Parisi

Publications and source records attributed to L Parisi.

88 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Ocular hypertension and corneal thickness: a long-term prospective study. Results after two years.

PURPOSE: To study the importance of the central corneal thickness (CCT) in patients with ocular hypertension in a 2-year follow-up. METHODS: A total of 110 subjects with ocular hypertension (intraocular pressure [IOP] >21 mmHg and normal automated visual field test) were admitted to the study. All patients periodically underwent the following tests: 1) circadian IOP curve; 2) standard automated perimetry (SAP, Humphrey 30-2 SITA test); 3) short wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP); 4) frequency doubling technology perimetry (FDT, N-30 threshold test); 5) nerve fiber layer analysis with GDx; 6) ibopamine test; 7) ultrasonic pachymetry. Patients were divided into three groups, based on corneal thickness. The frequency of abnormal tests within these groups was evaluated with the Pearson's chi2 test. Baseline IOP was corrected using the Doughty and Zaman formula. CCT was also considered as a continuous variable. A control group of 48 normal subjects was also considered. RESULTS: The mean CCT was 562.8 microm +/- 37.7. The difference with respect to normal subjects was statistically significant (p < 0.01). Using the correction formula, 43 eyes (39.1%) had an IOP <21 mmHg. Abnormal test results were more frequently found with FDT. The percentage of abnormal results was found to be inversely proportional to CCT. The other tests gave inconsistent or conflicting results. Using the values of CCT as a continuous variable, no significant association was found with the GDx number and the visual field indices. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our 2-year study confirm the importance of CCT measurement in the evaluation of the risk of developing glaucomatous damage.

Adult↗

Estimation of the conduction velocity of sympathetic sudomotor C fibres in healthy subjects: study of sympathetic skin reflex.

The aim of this study was to establish a simple method for estimating the conduction velocity (CV) of post-ganglionic sympathetic sudomotor C fibres (SSFCV) in the upper and lower limbs by simultaneously measuring the sympathetic skin reflex (SSR) in two distant sites. Fifty healthy volunteers were studied. SSRs were recorded with standard surface electrodes applied to both proximal (axilla and crural line) and distal sites for each limb (hand and foot). The CV of the efferent branch of the SSR was calculated by dividing the difference in the latencies of the response from two recording sites by the distance between the sites (axilla-hand for upper limb; crural line-foot for lower limb). Day-to-day reproducibility and intra-individual variability of the SSFCV were calculated. For the upper limbs, the SSFCV in the axilla-hand tract was 2.0+/-0.3 m/sec (range 1.6-2.4 m/sec). For the lower limb, the SSFCV in the crural line-foot tract was 1.4+/-0.4 m/sec (range 1.2-1.6 m/sec). Mean intra-individual variability of the SSFCV for the upper and lower limbs was 0.11 and 0.09, respectively. The coefficient of variation of the SSFCV for the upper and lower limbs was 5.1% and 5.4%, respectively. Our data show that this simple and non-invasive method can reliably be used to measure the CV of the sympathetic sudomotor fibres, in suitable temperature conditions, and may be useful when investigating the physiological functions of peripheral nerves in patients with peripheral neuropathies.

Action Potentials↗

[Peripheral nerve damage in HIV infection].

A critical review of the literature concerning PNS involvement in HIV infection was carried out. This complication was detected a short time ago (1982) and therefore a common classification is not yet available. The authors, through an analysis of the cases reported in literature, suggest a nosographic classification of this pathology.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

[Iatrogenic neuropathy].

A variety of drugs have been reported to cause peripheral nerve dysfunction. A review on this topic is reported concerning a wide number of drugs commonly employed in the clinical practice. In the analysis of the possible neurotoxicity of the various drugs the following criteria were into account: typical clinical features, full or partial recovery after treatment suspension, possibility to reproduce clinical and morphological peripheral system alterations in experimental animal models.

Animals↗

[Alobar holoprosencephaly. Prenatal diagnosis and autopsy findings in 2 cases].

We report two patients with alobar holoprosencephaly and cebocephaly: one, a fetus at 20th week of gestation; the second, a new born who died at seven days of age. Its very important U.S.G. in the prenatal diagnosis. Patients with holoprosencephaly and extracephalic malformation warrant chromosome analysis, because the incidence of chromosomal anomalies is very high. In the first foetus the brain and the face anomalies were associated with omphalocele, ureteropathy, bifid and horned uterus. In the second child karyotype analysis was normal. Cranial C.A.T. scan is important in the new born for the differential diagnosis holoprosencephaly from hydranencephaly, ventriculomegalia and Dandy-Walker cyst. The encephalon autopsy of both patients showed the presence of a single ventricule, the absence of interhemispheric fissure, of the corpus callosum and arrhinencephalia. This malformation complex is causally heterogeneous group. Chromosomal, autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant, and multifactorial mechanism have been invoked in humans; in animals it can be produced easily by a multitude of teratogenic agents. The two children reported are the first observation in the family. The etiology is presently unclear.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

[2 cases of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy].

Two cases of mitochondrial myopathy are described. An electrophysiological study was also accomplished to investigate the concomitant involvement of the central nervous system (CNS), by means of evoked potentials (EP). The EPs in fact can reveal minimal signs of CNS lesions also when muscular damage is the only clinical evidence.

Adult↗

[Bell's palsy. Longitudinal study of 120 cases].

The Authors have studied 120 cases of Bell's palsy, who underwent regular controls along 360 days from the beginning of the disease. The study has been carried out by means of two different parameters of evaluation, a clinical and electrophysiological one, which allowed us to obtain very interesting results, especially as regards the prognostic aspect.

Adult↗

[The sensitivity of ultradistal mineral measurement of the radius in the early assessment of bone loss].

This study was carried out to assess the sensitivity of single photon bone absorptiometry (SPBA) as an early screening tool for osteoporosis and select the optimum site for measurement. We measured bone mineral density (BMD) at the distal tenth of both radius and ulna (D-BMD) and at the ultradistal radius, a site distal to the point at which the radius and ulna are 8 mm apart (UD-BMD). Our study group consisted of 107 healthy women aged 25-60 years (mean +/- SD: 45.8 +/- 10.0), subdivided according to age into 3 groups: Group 1: 25-40 years, Group 2: 41-50 years, Group 3: 51-60 years. When comparison was made to Group 1, D-BMD was found significantly reduced only in Group 3 (p < 0.0001), while UD-BMD was found reduced in both Groups 2 (p < 0.02) and 3 (p < 0.0001). The percent reduction of BMD in Groups 2 and 3 with respect to Group 1 was significantly greater at the ultradistal site than at the distal tenth of the radius and ulna (p < 0.0001 versus D-BMD). Despite limits inherent in the cross-sectional study design, our results suggest that forearm SPBA indicates post-menopausal bone loss irrespective of scanning site, but detects pre-menopausal loss sensitively only at the ultradistal site. Ultradistal measurement would therefore seem suitable for early screening for osteoporosis as an alternative or in addition to the generally used more proximal site.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗