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Biomedical subjects

L Vecchi

Publications and source records attributed to L Vecchi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis C virus. Lombardy Study Group on Vertical HCV Transmission.

To assess the risk of mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV), we followed up 116 babies of anti-HCV positive mothers, of whom 22 were coinfected with HIV and 94 had HCV alone. None of the babies whose mothers had HCV alone acquired HCV, while 8 babies (36%; p < 0.001) of mothers co-infected with HIV acquired HCV (5 babies) or HCV and HIV (3). There was no association between any specific maternal HCV genotype and enhanced risk of neonatal infection. HCV-RNA levels were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in mothers with HIV coinfection than in those with HCV alone. These data indicate that maternal HIV status correlates with enhanced level of viraemia which favours neonatal infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Health care for the uninsured in Duluth.

Providing health care for Minnesota's uninsured population continues to be both a clinical and political challenge. Between October 1, 1991, and September 30, 1993, 1,260 previously uninsured people received charity health care in Duluth. No one was excluded because of pre-existing conditions. Their utilization of services and associated costs can help project the health care needs and costs of care for uninsured Minnesotans. This group of uninsured people used a different mix of health care services compared with insured Minnesotans, and their total costs (including prescriptions) were about 15% greater. A large proportion of these uninsured Minnesotans had chronic health conditions and a "pent-up need" for services and medications. This experience demonstrated that it is possible to administer a limited benefits plan in coordination with existing public and private resources.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[The parenteral administration of essential amino acids in patients on periodic hemodialysis treatment. A pilot study].

In an attempt to improve the nutritional status of seven hemodialysed patients, 500 ml of a 5.5% nephrological essential amino acid solution (EAA) were administered during each dialysis session for 2 months. At the end of this treatment, a significant increase in albuminemia was found (p < 0.05). These results are an encouragement to continue this therapy, especially if it is kept in mind that the half-life of albumin is much shorter than the period of EAA administration.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[The hadron therapy project].

The neologism "hadrontherapy" means radiotherapy with hadrons, which are the particles constituted by quarks, such as protons, neutrons and ions. The theoretical considerations about the clinical advantages this treatment modality can yield and the results obtained at the centers where it has already been used justify the proposal to project a center of this kind also in our Country. To this purpose, two of the authors of this paper (U. Amaldi, G. Tosi) founded the TERA Group formed by physicists, engineers and radiotherapists who work in close collaboration on a feasibility study for a hadrontherapy facility. The first aim of the Hadrontherapy Project is to design a center equipped with a synchrotron which, at the beginning, will accelerate negative hydrogen ions (H-) which will first produce 70-250 MeV proton beams and, then accelerate light ions (up to 16O) to 430 MeV/amu. This accelerator will serve four or five treatment rooms where patients can be irradiated simultaneously. Two rooms will be equipped with a fixed horizontal beam for the treatment of eye, head and neck tumors; the others will be equipped with rotating gantries to administer, in any clinical situation, really adequate treatment. Such a unit, when enough experience is fained, will allow at least 1000 patients to be treated yearly. The synchrotron injector will be designed so as to allow, parallel to the radiotherapy activities, other applications of medical and biological interest such as: the production of radioisotopes for diagnostic use (especially positron emitters), the analysis of trace elements through the PIXE technique and the production of thermal and epithermal neutrons for boron neutron capture therapy.

Biophysical Phenomena↗
PubMed1993

[Radiographic examination of the pelvis in patients under periodic hemodialysis for terminal uremia].

Significant signs of uremic osteodystrophy were found at Rx examination of the pelvis in 29 out of 72 uremic patients (40%) undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. It is therefore thought that Rx of the pelvis, although it is more significant for some signs (brown tumors, alterations of the trabecular structure, enlargement of Ward's triangle) than for others, such as subperiosteal resorption, should not be neglected in these patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Hepatitis C virus and porphyria cutanea tarda: evidence of a strong association.

Porphyria cutanea tarda in human beings is believed to be due to reduced hepatic uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase activity. However, extrinsic factors such as alcohol abuse and drug intake are required for clinical manifestation of the disease. In addition to typical cutaneous lesions, patients with porphyria cutanea tarda usually have chronic liver disease and moderate iron overload. Of 74 Italian patients with porphyria cutanea tarda, hepatitis C virus antibodies were detected in 76% by enzyme-linked immunoassay and in 82% by recombinant immunoblot assay. Viral genome, studied with nested polymerase chain reaction, was found in the sera of 49 subjects--47 positive and 2 indeterminate on recombinant immunoblot assay. Five percent of the patients were HBsAg-positive, and about 40% had had past hepatitis B contacts. Alcohol abuse was present in 38%. Liver biopsies performed in 42 patients showed chronic persistent hepatitis in 7 patients, chronic active hepatitis in 22 patients, fibrosis in three patients and cirrhosis in 10 patients. Hepatitis C virus antibody was detected in 100% of patients with chronic active hepatitis and in about 80% of all other groups. Alcohol abuse was more frequent in patients with cirrhosis (80%) than in the other groups. In Italian patients with porphyria cutanea tarda, the prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection was very high, comparable to that in non-A, non-B hepatitis and high-risk patient groups. Hepatitis C virus is probably the main pathogenetic factor of the liver disease of patients with porphyria cutanea tarda.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1992

Liver damage in Italian patients with hereditary hemochromatosis is highly influenced by hepatitis B and C virus infection.

We evaluated the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in 78 Italian patients with hereditary hemochromatosis as well as the relation between HCV antibody (anti-HCV) status, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and liver histology. None of the patients had been transfused or ever consumed more than 60 g of alcohol per day. Eighteen showed histological signs of chronic hepatitis, active cirrhosis was present in 12, chronic active hepatitis in 4 and chronic persistent hepatitis in 2. Liver fibrosis or cirrhosis without inflammatory activity was observed in 31 subjects, whereas liver histology was normal except for iron overload in 18. The prevalence of HBsAg in the whole series was 5% and of anti-HCV was 20.5%. The prevalence of HBsAg and anti-HCV was significantly higher in the chronic hepatitis group than in the fibrosis/cirrhosis (p = 0.01) and the normal groups (p < 0.01). Fourteen of 18 hereditary hemochromatosis patients with chronic hepatitis were HBsAg (4) or anti-HCV (10) positive and all the latter subgroup had HCV-RNA in their serum as shown by the polymerase chain reaction. Although most of the patients with associated chronic hepatitis had cirrhosis, their serum ferritin levels and amount of mobilizable iron were significantly lower than those of the fibrosis/cirrhosis group (p < 0.01). This indicates that hepatitis viral infection acts synergistically with iron in accelerating the development of liver damage.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Serologic study on the prevalence of HIV, HBV infection and on the false positive reaction of VDRL at a prison].

Prisoners are considered to be a high risk population for HIV and HBV infection. Aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HIV, HBV infection and of the VDRL false positivity by performing screening tests in 496 prisoners of Monza in 1987. About a third of prisoners was HIV infected (with a high prevalence in drug addicts) and about a half had a contact with HBV virus. We observed a very common association between HIV and HBV infections. About ten per cent of HIV infected presented a false positivity for VDRL while one per cent of not infected did. Our data show that in Italian prison HIV and HBV infections are spreadly diffused. False positivity for VDRL may be due not only to drug addiction but also to the immunological variations connected with AIDS.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗