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Biomedical subjects

M Centofanti

Publications and source records attributed to M Centofanti.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Conjunctival hyperresponsiveness to ocular histamine challenge in patients with vernal conjunctivitis.

We compared the conjunctival responsiveness to histamine diphosphate in patients with vernal conjunctivitis and in healthy control subjects. Fourteen asymptomatic patients with vernal conjunctivitis and 10 healthy volunteers were challenged in one eye with 10 microliters of increasing doses (0.01, 0.05, 0.5, and 1 mg/ml in phosphate-buffered saline) of histamine diphosphate. The contralateral eye was challenged with the diluent only. Photographs of each eye were taken for evaluation of conjunctival redness by two masked investigators. Both patients with vernal conjunctivitis and control subjects reacted to histamine with a dose-dependent conjunctival redness 2 to 5 minutes after ocular challenge. Conjunctival redness was more intense in patients with vernal conjunctivitis than in control subjects after ocular challenge with 0.01 and 0.05 mg/ml of histamine diphosphate solution (p less than 0.05). Moreover, the threshold concentration of histamine diphosphate, extrapolated from each individual dose-response curve, was significantly (p less than 0.02) lower in patients with vernal conjunctivitis than in control subjects. Our findings suggest that patients with vernal conjunctivitis demonstrate conjunctival hyperresponsiveness to a nonspecific challenging agent. Nonspecific conjunctival hyperreactivity, a novel concept in allergic eye disease, may be relevant for a better understanding of the pathogenesis and clinical variability of vernal conjunctivitis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Effectiveness of nedocromil sodium 2% eyedrops on clinical symptoms and tear fluid cytology of patients with vernal conjunctivitis.

A double-masked, randomised, placebo-controlled study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of nedocromil 2% eyedrops, a mast cell stabilizer, in 20 symptomatic patients with vernal conjunctivitis. A 1-week baseline period was followed by 6 weeks of treatment. Clinical examination and cytological evaluation of tear fluid were performed weekly, and the patients recorded their subjective assessment on a daily diary card. The nedocromil group showed significantly less hyperaemia in the course of treatment than did the placebo group, and significantly less itching at all visits compared with baseline itching. In the nedocromil-treated group, but not in the placebo group, the number of neutrophils, eosinophils and lymphocytes in tears decreased significantly during some treatment weeks when compared with baseline. The overall assessment of treatment efficacy by both clinician and patient was significantly in favour of nedocromil treatment over placebo.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pulsatile ocular blood flow during pregnancy.

PURPOSE: To study pulsatile ocular blood flow (POBF) throughout pregnancy. METHODS: We enrolled twenty-seven healthy women in the first trimester of gestation, only ten of which were followed through the second trimester, and fourteen non pregnant healthy women. In each subject we measured POBF with the POBF pneumotonometer (OBF Ltd. UK), IOP, blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR). An unpaired Student t-test was used to compare pregnant women with non-pregnant women, and a two-tailed paired Student t-test was used to compare the same women in the first and second trimester of pregnancy. p <0.05 is considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Results are presented as means +/- SD. In the first trimester of pregnancy the age was 32 +/- 6, POBF 1516.4 +/- 382 ml/min, IOP 13 +/- 3 mmHg, BP 92 +/- 6 mmHg, and HR 86 +/- 14 beats/min. In the second trimester POBF was 1629.11 +/- 352.4 ml/min, intraocular pressure (IOP) 12 +/- 3 mmHg, BP 96 +/- 3 mmHg, and HR 93 +/- 10 beats/min. In the control group the age was 27 +/- 9, POBF 972.23 +/- 329.3 ml/min, BP 88 +/- 4.3 mmHg, and HR 80 +/- 14 beats/min. POBF increases during the first trimester (p = 0.00008). In the second trimester POBF was higher compared to the first trimester (p = 0.0008). Non significant differences were observed for the other parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The POBF increases throughout gestation. During pregnancy there is an increase in estrogen which induces endothelial-dependent vasodilatation in several tissues. The estrogen changes may influence POBF.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pilot study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pneumatic trabeculoplasty in glaucoma and ocular hypertension.

PURPOSE: Following laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), intraocular pressure (IOP) is measurably lower in a significant number of cases. It has been proposed that the decrease in IOP may be a real event. Prior trials have evaluated pneumatic trabeculoplasty (PNT) in combination with concomitant glaucoma medications. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and the safety of PNT alone to lower IOP in patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) or ocular hypertension (OH). METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 37 subjects with POAG or OH were enrolled in a prospective, open-label, fellow-eye, multicenter trial to determine the IOP lowering effects of PNT. All subjects underwent ophthalmologic examinations and IOP measurements and were washed out from all glaucoma medications prior to the start of the study. The trial was intrapatient controlled for the first 30 days, with one eye receiving PNT at days 0 and 7 and the fellow eye serving as the control. The second eye was treated with PNT at day 30. The patients were followed for 120 days, with the first eye receiving an additional PNT treatment at days 90 and 97. Two analyses-an intent to treat analysis in which the last IOP measurement for patients dropped from the study was carried forward and an analysis including only those patients who completed the trial-were performed. Of the 37 patients enrolled, 27 (73%) completed the study. For the intent to treat analysis the baseline mean IOP was 24.7+/-1.9 mmHg for eye 1 and 23.6+/-2.3 mmHg for eye 2 and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Using this analysis the differences between eye 1 mean IOP at days 1, 7, 14, and 60 and the baseline mean IOP were statistically significant (p<0.05). The differences between eye 2 mean IOP and the baseline mean IOP were statistically significant (p<0.05) at all time points except day 14 and day 30. The greater mean IOP reductions from the baseline mean IOP for eye 1 were at study day 1 (-16,1%), day 14 (-9%), and day 60 (-8.9%). For eye 2 they were at day 60 (-8.7%) and at day 120 (-9.1%). For the analysis that included only those subjects who completed the trial the decrease in eye 1 mean IOP from baseline was statistically significant (p<0.05) at all time points. The decrease in eye 2 mean IOP from baseline was statistically significant at all time points except day 30. Using this analysis the greater mean IOP reductions from the baseline mean IOP for eye 1 were at study day 1 (-19%), day 14 (-15.7%), day 37 (-16.3%), day 60 (-20.0%), day 90 (-18.1%), day 97 (-16.8%), and day 120 (-15.8%). For eye 2 greater mean IOP reductions from baseline mean IOP were seen on day 37 (-13.0%), day 60 (-16.7%), day 90 (-15.5%), day 97 (-14.5%), and day 120 (-7.2%). No statistically significant differences were found in mean IOP reduction between the two eyes treated. A total of 34 patients (92%) showed adverse effects: conjunctival hyperemia in 26 (70.3%) and conjunctival hemorrhage in 14 (37.8%). CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study of PNT showed a potentially good IOP lowering effect on glaucoma and hypertensive patients. Additional studies would help to better define the types of patients who respond to PNT and to identify risk factors that may lead to treatment failure.

Adult↗