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Biomedical subjects

M Giovannini

Publications and source records attributed to M Giovannini.

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Establishment and characterization of a primitive neuroectodermal tumor of bone continuous cell line (LAP-35).

A continuous tumor cell line (LAP-35) was established from a primitive neuroectodermal tumor of bone from the right tibia of a 12-year-old female. The neural character of the cell line was documented by the spontaneous growth of neurites and by the presence of several neural markers, including neuron-specific enolase (NSE), S-100 protein, neurofilaments, chromogranin A, synaptophysin and positivity to monoclonal antibodies UJ127.11, UJ13A, UJ181.4. Cell-sorter analysis showed a high expression of nerve growth factor receptor (NGFr) and major histocompatibility complex class I-related molecules. A unique cytogenetic profile was observed, including a reciprocal chromosomal translocation (rct) 11:22 (q24;q12), typically associated with Ewing's sarcoma and neuroepithelioma, and deletion of the short arm of chromosome 1 (lp-), otherwise a feature of neuroblastoma. N-myc proto-oncogene was neither amplified nor expressed, whereas the expression of c-myc was documented by northern blot analysis. These features distinguish this new cell line from previously reported neuroectodermal cell lines, identifying LAP-35 as a unique model of a group of neural bone tumors that share characteristics of neuroblastoma as well as neuroepithelioma.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Haplotype distribution and molecular defects at the phenylalanine hydroxylase locus in Italy.

In order to investigate the molecular basis of phenylketonuria (PKU) in Italy, we characterized the RFLP haplotypes at the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene in 38 unrelated Italian PKU families. The distribution of haplotypes associated with PKU alleles differs from that of other European populations. In particular, haplotypes 1 and 6 are present in 39.7% and 17.6% of the PKU chromosomes, whereas the frequencies of haplotypes 2 and 3 are 5.9% and 2.9%, respectively. The characterization of PKU mutations using the polymerase chain reaction and allele-specific oligonucleotides shows that 1 out of 2 haplotypes 3 carries the splicing mutation and that 2 out of 4 haplotypes 2 carry the missense mutation associated with these haplotypes in North European populations. Our results indicate that the two molecular defects most frequent in Northern Europe represent a minority of PKU mutations in Italy.

Gene Frequency↗
PubMed1990

Pancreas divisum is a probable cause of acute pancreatitis: a report of 137 cases.

The incidence of pancreas divisum (PD) was evaluated in a retrospective series of 1,825 successful consecutive ERCPs. One hundred thirty-seven pancreas divisums (7.5%) were found in 80 males and 57 females at a mean age of 49.2 years. The ventral ducts were visualized in 82.5% and the dorsal ducts in 74.1% of attempted cannulations of the minor papilla. Pancreas divisum was significantly more frequent in patients presenting with acute idiopathic pancreatitis (50.0%) or acute biliary pancreatitis (23.7%) than in controls or in the general population. This difference was not found in acute pancreatitis due to other etiologies. Acute pancreatitis associated with PD is generally recurrent, is not severe, but may be complicated by necrotic pseudocysts. The frequency of PD was also significantly increased in patients with gallbladder stones but not with common bile duct stones. In other pathological groups--chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer--the frequency of pancreas divisum was not statistically different from that observed in controls and/or in the general population. We conclude that on a statistical basis, PD is a probable cause of acute pancreatitis, especially in its idiopathic recurrent variety, and that its frequency is increased in patients with gallbladder stones.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1990

Conjunctival provocation tests in suspected allergic conjunctivitis: a clinical study.

We examined 57 patients who showed conjunctivitis suspected of allergic pathogenesis with skin radioallergosorbent (RAST) and conjunctival provocation tests (CPT). Our aim was to define statistical correlations between those tests and their exact values for the right diagnosis. Our data show that CPT is more sensitive than skin tests or RAST to ascertain the origin of conjunctivitis.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Early loss of circulating hemopoietic progenitors in HIV-1-infected subjects.

We investigated the in vitro growth of circulating progenitors from mononuclear nonadherent cells (MNAC) and T-depleted MNAC (non-T-MNAC) in the peripheral blood (PB) of 20 human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) seropositive subjects, compared with 12 normal adult volunteers, in order to clarify whether the loss of hemopoietic progenitors described in the bone marrow (BM) of AIDS-related complex (ARC)/AIDS patients could occur in PB before the AIDS stage, only those patients at the early stages of the disease who had never undergone cytotoxic therapy were considered in the study. We found a significant reduction in the number of granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units, CFU-GM; p less than 0.001), megakaryocytic progenitors (megakaryocyte colony-forming units, CFU-MK; p less than 0.001) and erythroid progenitors (erythroid burst-forming units, BFU-E; p less than 0.05) in non-T-MNAC cultures of PB from HIV-1 seropositive subjects compared with normal PB control cultures. Although most of our patients had an inverted CD4/CD8 ratio and a marked reduction in the absolute number of CD4+ cells, there was no correlation with the absolute number of CD4+ cells or with the CD4/CD8 ratio. The loss of hemopoietic progenitors in PB seemed to occur earlier than in BM, because the hemograms of the patients considered in the study were normal in most cases.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1990

[Ultrasound-guided percutaneous ethanol injection of small malignant tumors of the liver. Results in 20 patients].

The effectiveness of percutaneous ethanol injection therapy was investigated in 20 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (six cases), or hepatic metastases (twenty-five cases). 131 ethanol injections were performed between december 1987 and march 1990 for 30 lesions. Indications for this procedure included inadequate response to conventional treatment and tumor diameter less than 5 cm. Histopathologic examination, performed in all cases, showed that the tumor was completely necrotic in 16 cases, partially necrotic in 8 cases and not modified in 6 cases (one patient was not evaluable). Alpha-feto-protein and CEA levels were decreased in 12/17 cases. 16 patients were still alive at the end of the study (the mean follow-up period was 11.3 months). We conclude that ethanol injection may be a valuable treatment for small hepatic tumors.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

[Comparative study of fine needle aspiration and large caliber needle biopsy under echographic control for the diagnosis of abdominal tumors].

The aim of this study was to compare the results of fine needle aspiration (22 G) with large caliber needle biopsy (18 G) in patients suspected of having abdominal malignancy. From November 1988 to December 1989, 73 patients aged 32 to 78 years (mean 66 years), suspected sonographically of having hepatic malignancy (66 cases) or extrahepatic tumors (7 cases), underwent ultrasonography guided percutaneous fine needle aspiration (22 G) and biopsy with a large caliber needle (18 G). There were no complications. Overall sensitivity for diagnosis of malignancy was significantly better (p less than 0.01) with 18 G needle biopsies (91.2 percent) than with fine needle cytology (71.4 percent). Specificity was 100 percent. The distinction between primary and secondary malignant tumor was possible in 87.5 percent with the large caliber needle and in only 42.9 percent with the fine needle (p less than 0.001). Histological findings were adequate hepatic metastases in 86.5 percent with the 18 gauge needle and in 51.4 percent with the 22 gauge needle (p less than 0.001). In the 7 extra-hepatic tumors, the 18 G biopsy was always positive whereas fine needle cytology was positive in only 5 out of 7 cases. Correct diagnosis for benign diseases was possible in 7 out of 10 cases with the large caliber needle whereas the fine needle cytology was always negative. These results show the superiority of large caliber needle (18 G) compared to fine needle (22 G) guided punction for both diagnosis of malignancy and origin of the tumor. Complications did not occur more frequently than with fine caliber needles.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Mucinous cystadenocarcinoma of the appendix. A rare tumor of the right iliac fossa].

An observation of a mucinous cystadenocarcinoma of the appendix, in the tumor form, revealed by a painful syndrome of the right iliac fossa in a 62-year man is reported. It is a rare malignant tumor as less than 0.5% of the appendicectomy parts present a malignant mucosecreting tumor. In our observation, the diagnosis was allowed by pre-operation imaging. An increase of the serous amount in the tumor markers (carcinoembryonic antigen) (CEA) and CA 19-9 was found before the intervention and the immunodetections performed on the operation part were positive for CEA and CA 19-9. The serous amounts of these markers were normalized after operation. To the author's knowledge, the interest of dosing the serous tumor markers in the observation of such a type of tumor is not mentioned in the literature. The recurrences are frequent and sometimes late even when the initial excision has been macroscopically satisfactory. A new increase of the serous amount of the markers could allow for an earlier detection of a recurrence during the patient follow-up. At present, the prognosis of these malignant forms remains very poor as the 5-year survival does not exceed 25%.

Appendiceal Neoplasms↗
PubMed1990

[Value of upper digestive fibroscopy in the evaluation of initial spread of malignant extradigestive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Results in 101 patients].

The aim of this prospective study was to assess the frequency of gastroduodenal involvement during initial staging of extradigestive non Hodgkin's lymphoma. One hundred and one patients (64 men and 37 women; mean age 57.7; range 22-77 years) underwent an upper digestive endoscopy with multiple biopsies before any treatment. The origin of lymphoma was nodal in 76 cases and extranodal in 25 cases. Biopsy specimens were taken from all gross lesions; when the mucosa was considered as normal, biopsy specimens were obtained from the corpus, the antrum, and the duodenum. Endoscopy was normal in 37 patients; nevertheless in 4/37 patients, biopsies revealed lymphoma infiltration. In 64 patients, endoscopy showed macroscopic anomalies: biopsies were negative in 47 patients and showed lymphoma involvement in 17 patients. The involvement site was the corpus of the stomach (11 cases), the antrum (9 cases), and the duodenum (9 cases); lesions were multifocal in 10/21 patients. The association of several types of lesions was noticed in 5 patients. Lesions included volcano-like craters (8 cases), large folds of brain-like appearance (4 cases), tumors greater than 3 cm (3 cases), gastric ulcers (3 cases), erosive gastritis (3 cases), and erythematous duodenitis (2 cases). Overall, 21 of 101 patients (20.8 percent) had positive biopsies, 17 with endoscopic lesions and 4 without. Only 5/21 patients presented upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Staging of the lymphoma changed to Stage IV in 11 patients (4 stage I, 4 stage II and 3 stage III) (10.9 percent) after gastrointestinal involvement was documented. Gastroduodenal involvement is not related to initial site (nodal or extranodal), stage of extension or grade of malignancy of the lymphoma.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Endoscopic detection of dysplasia and subclinical cancer of the esophagus. Results of a prospective study using toluidine blue vital staining in 100 patients with alcoholism and smoking].

In spite of the development of upper digestive tract fiberoptic endoscopy (FE) within the last 10 years, early detection of esophageal carcinoma (EC) is rare except in certain high-risk groups such as patients with head and neck cancers. The aim of this study was to assess the value of a meticulous histoendoscopic examination with vital toluidine blue (TB) staining in all alcohol and tobacco abusers undergoing FE for any reason except dysphagia. In 18 months, 100 patients (90 men, 10 women) who were over 40 years old and who consumed more than 80 g of alcohol and 20 g of tobacco per day underwent FE. No patient had a history of head and neck or esophageal cancer. FE was decided in 48 patients for epigastric pain, in 28 for esophageal varices, in 8 for weight loss, in 8 for anemia, in 7 for peptic disease, and in 1 for diarrhea. Staining with TB was carried out at the end of the examination and two routine biopsies were obtained 5 cm above the lower esophageal sphincter. Specimens were obtained from each abnormal area (TB + or TB -). Clinical ENT examination was recommended for all patients. Two esophageal carcinomas (1 microinvasive, 1 in situ) and 15 cases of dysplasia were detected. Dysplasia was classified as severe in 1 case, moderate in 9 cases, and mild in 5 cases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗