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Biomedical subjects

M Braga

Publications and source records attributed to M Braga.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

An oncocytic carcinoma of the pancreas with pulmonary and subcutaneous metastases.

A 72-year-old man with an oncocytic carcinoma of the pancreas of 3 years' duration was treated by pancreatoduodenectomy; 5 and 16 months later, two pulmonary metastases and one subcutaneous metastasis of the thigh were removed. No sign of local recurrence or metastases was present at 20-month follow-up. It is suggested that oncocytic carcinomas of the pancreas have a favorable prognosis if treated surgically.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Fat absorption and gastroenteric pH profile in postsurgical pancreatic insufficiency: role of the association of H2-receptor antagonists with pancreatic enzymes.

The complete control of steatorrhea in post-surgical exocrine pancreatic insufficiency is difficult. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the association of ranitidine with pancrelipase om fecal fat excretion in patients who had undergone a pancreatoduodenectomy with suppression of the exocrine pancreatic secretion by Neoprene injection. Ten patients were studied 1 year after surgery. Steatorrhea was measured as an integrated test of 3-day stools, while patients were kept on a diet of 100 g lipid/day, with their usual enzyme supplementation therapy (16,050 USP units of lipase/meal). A basal 24-h gastroenteric pH profile was also obtained. In the following month, patients had ranitidine (150 mg twice a day) in addition to pancrelipase. Then steatorrhea and gastroenteric pH were reassessed. Mean fecal fat was 26.9 (SD 13.7) g/day without ranitidine and 30.5 (SD 13.9) g/day during combined treatment. Body weight and nutritional parameters did not show any significant variation after ranitidine administration. Even in the absence of ranitidine, postprandial gastroenteric pH values were always > 4; the H2-receptor antagonist only reduced fasting gastric acidity. In conclusion, the gastroenteric pH and fecal fat determinations showed that ranitidine is not useful in patients with total postsurgical exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Factors influencing 1-year patency of coronary artery saphenous vein grafts. Studio Indobufene nel Bypass Aortocoronarico (SINBA).

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the possible influence of a series of clinical angiographic and surgical variables on the 1-year patency of saphenous vein (SV) coronary graft, data collected prospectively in a multicenter randomized clinical trial were analyzed. METHODS AND RESULTS: The study group included 349 patients--847 SV distal anastomoses--who underwent angiography at a median time of 374 days after surgery. By logistic binomial regression analysis, age, sex, smoking habits, hypertension, high cholesterol, previous myocardial infarction, and angina were not found to be significant factors leading to graft occlusion. Among the angiographic and surgical variables, the following were retained as predictive of higher occlusion risk: (1) vessel diameter (< or = 1.5 mm versus > 1.5 mm, odds ratio (OR) = 2.46); (2) the location of the grafted vessel, namely, the right coronary artery versus the left anterior descending (OR = 2.15); and (3) the wall motion of the vessel-dependent myocardial region (altered versus normal: OR = 2.12). The presence of two or three risk factors multiplied the occlusion risk up to 11-fold. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that vessel diameter, wall motion of the vessel-dependent myocardial region, and location of the grafted vessel are the main determinants of SV coronary graft patency during the first postoperative year. Knowledge of these artery-specific factors may provide a basis for estimating the risk of graft occlusion, thereby modifying surgical strategy and postoperative surveillance.

Aspirin↗
PubMed1992

Non-parametric age related centile curves for blood lead levels in blood donors from northern Italy.

Healy's non-parametric method, originally applied to growth data, provides an efficient and flexible tool for computing smoothed centile curves. We used this procedure to calculate reference curves for blood lead levels. A sample of 402 blood donors living in Brescia and its surrounding area was used as a reference population. No exclusion criteria but occupational exposure to lead were adopted. The comparison between the reference values obtained with Healy's procedure and the tolerance limits, based on the normal approximation, computed within age strata is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Role of bioelectrical impedance analysis in acutely dehydrated subjects.

15 young healthy volunteers were studied to assess the reliability of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to determine body composition during acute dehydration. Body weight (BW), resistance and reactance measurements were performed before and 4h after a 40 mg intravenous administration of furosemide. BW decreased on average from 69.09 +/- 9.83 kg to 67.43 +/- 9.72 kg (p < 0.001), while resistance, reactance, and phase angle showed significant increases. The individual variations in bioelectrical parameters were not related to the BW loss. Formulae to derive body composition predicted poorly the true water loss (mean individual error: 40% of real loss). The errors in body composition prediction were unrelated to basal percentage of fat free mass, to body mass index, or to BW loss after furosemide administration. In conclusion, BIA proved unreliable in calculating the body composition of acutely dehydrated subjects.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1992

Definition of reference values for Cd-B and Cd-U: methodological aspects and preliminary results.

In the present study, a definition of the reference values of blood cadmium (Cd-B) and urinary cadmium (Cd-U) was attempted, adopting the same methodology as that used for Hg-B by ICOH and IUPAC. Papers published from 1976 onwards were reviewed. The majority of the studies were concerned with the formation of control groups for toxicological and epidemiological investigations rather than with the definition of reference values. Since the number of subjects for whom data on cadmium were available was small, only the data on Cd-B were considered. After evaluation, only four studies were found to be suitable for the establishment of tentative reference values for Cd-B. It is essential in all such studies to check the statistical and analytical methods for correctness, and the case-list must be selected taking smoking into account as the main interfering factor. It was found that Cd-B values show less dispersion when geometric means and standard geometric deviations are used instead of arithmetic means and standard deviations.

Cadmium↗
PubMed1992

[The usefulness of dietetic supplementation in feeding after gastric and pancreatic surgeries].

We evaluated the efficacy of an oral artificial supplementation in 22 patients who underwent surgery for gastric or pancreatic cancer. From 8th to 14th postoperative day, 11 patients (cases) received a diet consistent in their REE, and an oral integrator (40% of REE); controls received only the diet. On 7th and 15th day, nutritional and anthropometric parameters were evaluated, and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) was performed to assess body composition. The dietary caloric input was similar in cases (1154 kcal, 86.0% of REE) and controls (1393 kcal, 92.3% of REE). Due to the integrator, cases reached 121.4% of REE (p less than 0.001). The nutritional and anthropometric parameters studied did not show significant variations in the two groups, but BIA showed a decrease of fat mass in controls with respect to cases (p less than 0.02). Our results demonstrate that the oral artificial supplementation was well tolerated, and did not reduce food intake, but induced a significant increase of total caloric input.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Association between perioperative blood transfusion and postoperative infection in patients having elective operations for gastrointestinal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of blood transfusion on the development of infection after elective operations for gastrointestinal and pancreatic cancer. DESIGN: Prospective open study. SUBJECTS: 285 consecutive patients admitted with gastric, colorectal, and pancreatic cancer, 215 of whom were suitable for the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sex, age, total iron binding capacity, measurement of haemoglobin and serum albumin concentration, assessment of immune response by delayed hypersensitivity skin test, and weight loss were recorded, as were duration of operation, operative blood loss, and pathological TNM stage of the disease. RESULTS: Sixty patients (28%) developed infections postoperatively. Univariate analysis showed that the development of infection was significantly associated with the amount of blood transfused (p < 0.001), operative blood loss (p < 0.05), and length of operation (p < 0.01), but not weight loss (p = 0.07) or delayed hypersensitivity response (p = 0.08). Multiple logistic analysis showed that blood transfusion was a significant independent variable only when more than 1,000 ml were transfused (odds ratio 6.5, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Transfusion of more than 1,000 ml of blood is an independent risk factor in the development of infection postoperatively in patients undergoing operations for gastrointestinal cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Perioperative administration of thymopentin for the prevention of infections in oncologic surgery].

The efficacy of thymopentin in reducing postoperative infections (PI) was prospectively evaluated in 138 patients with abdominal cancer, who underwent major surgery. Comparable subsets of patients were obtained according to age (cutpoint 65 years) and nutritional status (patients with serum albumin less than 30 g/l or weight loss greater than or equal to 10% with respect to their usual body weight were considered as malnourished). Patients were then at random attributed to a control group and to a thymopentin receiving (Thy) group, in the latter thymopentin (50 mg) was given three times before surgery and three times after operation. All patients received perioperative short term antibiotic prophylaxis and postoperative parenteral nutrition. The severity of Pl was expressed by the sepsis score which was calculated on all those patients developing Pl. Overall complication rate was 26.3% in the control group and 20.3% in the Thy group (p ns). Surgical-related infections occurred in 14 (20.3%) control group patients and in 10 (14.5%) Thy group patients (p ns). The average sepsis score was 10.11 +/- 6.69 in control group (2 patients died) and 6.85 +/- 3.80 in the Thy group (all patients survived) (p less than 0.05). By considering the elderly patients, a reduction in both Pl rate and the average sepsis score was observed in Thy group. Otherwise, no difference was observed in the young patients. Our data suggest that Thymopentin is useful in reducing both the incidence and the severity of Pl in elderly patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Fluorouracil, high-dose folinic acid, low-dose alpha-2b interferon and dipyridamole in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer. A pilot study.

Twenty-six patients with advanced colorectal cancer were treated with a combination based on multimodal biochemical modulation of 5-fluorouracil by means of high dose folinic acid, low-dose alpha-2b interferon and dipyridamole. The overall response rate was 42% (95% confidence intervals = 23%. 61%) with four complete remissions (15%). The median duration of response was 9 months and the median survival for responders was 15 months (all patients = 12 months). Toxic side effects included oral mucositis (grade III-IV = 38%) and a generally mild flu-like syndrome. This regimen seems active and safe enough to be compared with the combination of fluorouracil and high-dose folinic acid.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Prevalence of reactions to drugs in 251 patients with urticaria-angioedema syndrome].

We studied 251 outpatients affected by chronic and acute urticaria-angioedema syndrome, triggered or exacerbated by drugs, to evaluate the prevalence of adverse reactions to each pharmacological group. Among these patients, 134 (53.4%) presented one or more adverse reactions to a single drug: 100 (74.7%) reacted to NSAIDs, 33 (24.7%) to antibiotics and 1 to B vitamin complex. The remaining 117 patients (46.6%) presented adverse reactions to more than one drug. Considering the patients all together, 123 (49%) had adverse reactions to ASA, 116 (46.2%) to pyrazones, 65 (25.9%) to antibiotics, 26 (10.3%) to NSAIDs different from ASA and pyrazones. In our experience, according to other reports, there is a greater frequency of drug reactions to NSAIDs vs other drugs. ASA is the more frequently involved drug.

Angioedema↗
PubMed1990

Diagnosis of malignant change in duodenal villous adenoma.

Villous adenomas of the duodenum are rare, and malignancy is discovered in about 30% of the lesions. The authors describe two cases of villous adenoma of the second portion of the duodenum (13 and 8 cm in diameter). The diagnosis was obtained through endoscopy, which did not demonstrate any malignant change. In both patients, malignant change was shown by intraoperative frozen sections, and a pancreatico-duodenectomy was performed. Review of the literature and the authors' experience indicate endoscopic biopsies do not rule out the presence of malignancy in adenomatous pathology of the duodenum. Therefore, laparotomy should be performed whenever endoscopic excision of the neoplasm is not feasible. The authors emphasize the importance of an intraoperative diagnosis based on accurate frozen sections and propose a correct procedure to obtain the best results.

Adenoma↗