Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Monti.
Due to its particular physiology, baby skin is highly sensitive towards cleansing agents especially during the child's first period of life. Dermatologists therefore suggest cleansing rules and recommend the use of suitable products to avoid skin defects by cleansing agents.
We report a case of superior vena cava syndrome developing progressively over twenty years in a 48-year-old Venezuelan woman. The investigations revealed a locoregional etiology for the vena cava obstruction, namely a granulomatous mediastinitis probably secondary to histoplasmosis. We discuss the etiology, the clinical features, the natural course, and the therapy of chronic mediastinitis.
The demolition-reconstruction sequence in patients suffering from breast cancer may, in selected cases, be reduced to two surgical steps alone without compromising the radical nature of the surgery or the aesthetic result. The technical details of a protocol realisable in a short time that proposes on the one hand classical radical mastectomy (according to Patey or Madden) and on the other reconstruction by tissue expansion are described.
The Authors point out the importance of a preliminary detailed examination on cases where an intrabone implanthology operation is necessary. The patient is examined from a neuromuscolar point of view, then a stereognatograph is used to check his chewing function. The subject is carefully examined under the profile of his individual characteristics by means of a print which reveals the drawing of the bone's profile under the area of the tooth and the perforation of the cutting edges exactly at the right point and in the direction desired by the dentist.
A preliminary study has been carried out on 10 patients suffering from cancer of the colon and rectum, all subjected to radical surgery. The clinical effectiveness of two alternative techniques of postoperative artificial nutrition, EPEN and TPN, are compared. The results confirm that enteral nutrition is technically applicable and well tolerated in the immediate post-operative period in these patients; it also presents a lower cost, it is more manageable and present a lower incidence of complications compared to TPN while offering similar metabolic and nutritional results.
Muscle and platelet thermogenesis was measured by direct microcalorimetry in patients with anorexia nervosa. The median heat production, as calculated per unit of tissue mass, was 0.35 mW/g in vastus lateralis muscle, which is significantly lower (p less than 0.001), by approximately 50% than that in matched healthy subjects, 0.74 mW/g. The average deficit in body weight was 35%. Platelet heat production was decreased to a lesser degree with median values being 51.3 fW per cell and 60.9 fW per cell, respectively (p less than 0.02). Patients with bulimia without concomitant anorexia nervosa had normal heat production values. In the control group a positive correlation appeared (rs = 0.75, p less than 0.02) between resting muscle heat production and body surface area whereas no such relationship was found in the anorexic group.
1. The direct overall metabolic effects of calcium entry blockers on human platelets were evaluated using a sensitive microcalorimetric method. 2. The effect on platelet metabolism of four calcium entry blockers with different profiles of action was examined and compared with the relaxant response on human cerebral vessels in vitro. 3. Diltiazem (10(-8), 10(-4) M) and nifedipine (10(-10), 10(-6) M) were without effect on overall platelet metabolism. On the other hand flunarizine (10(-4) M) and verapamil (10(-4) M) significantly reduced metabolism, while lower concentrations of these agents did not change heat production. 4. The thermogenic response occurred at concentrations of the calcium entry blockers that were much higher than those observed during therapy and the concentrations which relax human cerebral arteries in vitro.
In a series of 20 lipolysis procedures, there have been no serious major and few minor complications. Selection of patients is important and the best results can be acquired in the patients under 35 years of age. The postoperative circulation and diuresis control are very important particularly during the first 24 hours.
The study of skin reliefs attracted the attention of dermatologists because it may reflect development, assembly and functional activity of the stratum corneum--and therefore of the entire epidermis. Psoriasis is characterized by a deep alteration of surface texture: and this can be related to the severity of the disease. In this work we studied, by means of skin profilometry, the roughness parameters that better describe the distinctive features of psoriatic skin topography and the modification of psoriatic surface after topical therapy. For this purpose we analyzed psoriatic skin reliefs using silicone rubber replicas both before therapy and after coal-tar topical application. A statistically significant difference between uninvolved and psoriatic skin for Ra- but not for Rz- values was observed in replicas made before therapy. After therapy, replicas showed no significant difference either for Ra or for Rz values. The profilometric analysis of psoriatic skin can be considered a useful method to characterize psoriatic plaque and the improvement obtained by topical therapy.
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To investigate the psychologic adjustment of women undergoing radical mastectomy for cancer, we compared drug consumption (analgesics and sedatives) in the postoperative period and the time lag between operation and the first spontaneous observation of surgical wound in two groups operated according to different procedures. Group 1 (52 patients; mean age, 47 years) underwent a two-stage surgical treatment consisting of biopsy (local anesthesia) followed after 2-4 h by mastectomy (general anesthesia); in the interval patients were informed about ongoing procedures by the surgeon, who also pronounced some key words such as tumor, malignant disease, cancer. Group 2 (66 patients; mean age, 47 years) underwent biopsy and mastectomy in a single stage under general anesthesia. The relative risk (RR) of Group 1 vs Group 2 patients was calculated as regards both drug consumption and time of the first self-observation of the surgical wound. Our results seem to suggest that the two-stage procedure through special care given by the surgeon may result in a positive coping pattern and thus better acceptance of the mutilation.
After an accident in a chemical plant in Seveso, Italy, on July 10, 1976, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) spread over a populated area. The event was exceptional because children were also affected and because the contamination took place not only through direct exposure but also through inhalation and the ingestion of contaminated foods, especially fruits and vegetables. This paper illustrates the early dermatologic lesions, the late acneic (chloracne) lesions, and their evolution during a 10-year period. Peculiar cutaneous findings, histologic data, and a comparison with previously reported similar accidents are also included.
The effect of coffee drinking on platelet reactivity was studied in 12 healthy subjects. Plasma beta-thromboglobulin concentration was determined before and one hour after administration of 100 mg of caffeine, corresponding to one cup of coffee. Mean values were 47.0 +/- 19.3 and 179.3 +/- 85.5 ng/ml before and after caffeine administration respectively. The increase, 298 +/- 150%, is highly significant (p less than 0.001).
The effect of beta 1-adrenergic blockade on body temperature was studied during general anaesthesia by means of a thermistor in an indwelling pulmonary arterial catheter. Metoprolol (200 mg daily) or placebo was given double-blind preoperatively for at least 2 weeks to 27 hypertensive patients undergoing abdominal surgery. A significantly greater temperature fall was observed in the metoprolol group compared with the placebo group. Heat production in the rectus abdominis muscle, measured by direct microcalorimetry, was significantly lower after metoprolol. The hypothermic effect of beta-adrenergic blockade during anaesthesia deserves special attention.
In the present study, overall metabolism has been estimated in hybridoma cells by microcalorimetric measurement. Heat production rate was found to be 30-50 pW/cell at cell concentrations 0.65-4.5 x 10(5)/ml. High cell concentrations (1 x 10(6) cells/ml) caused unstable power-curves with an initial high peak and a rapid declining phase, whereas low cell concentrations (0.6-4.5 x 10(5) cells/ml) produced steady-state power-curves. Oxygen consumption was found to range between 1.5-6.1 x 10(-5) mol 02/cell/min, corresponding to about 80% of the total metabolic activity. The metabolic inhibitors sodium fluoride (50 nM), sodium azide (160 mM) and rotenone (0.1 mM) caused a reduction in overall cell metabolism of 60, 55 and 40% respectively.
A homosexual male, seropositive to HIV and with previously documented syphilitic infections, developed a slowly growing nodule on his left wrist (possibly a chancre) followed, after 2 months, by a few scattered, large papular lesions. Serological evidence of active syphilis was obtained and treponema were identified in the initial lesion by means of immunofluorescent staining. Treatment with both aqueous crystalline penicillin G and benzathine penicillin G healed the lesions. This represents a further case of an atypical presentation of early syphilis in an immunocompromised host.
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