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Biomedical subjects

P Stratta

Publications and source records attributed to P Stratta.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Age and duration of illness as predictors of ventricular brain ratio (VBR) size in chronic schizophrenic patients. A stepwise regression analysis study.

The CT scans of 18 chronic schizophrenic patients and 17 controls were evaluated for Ventricular Brain Ratio (VBR) size. A trend for the patient group to have larger VBR than controls was present but did not reach statistical significance at the 5% level. Age was found to be an important correlate of VBR within the patient group but not among controls. In a stepwise multiple-regression model age, among other independent variables, can account for 47% of VBR variance in schizophrenic patients. Linear regression analysis did not reveal significant association between VBR and age in control subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Acute renal failure in preeclampsia-eclampsia.

Acute renal failure (ARF) is regarded as relatively uncommon in preeclampsia-eclampsia (PE-E) and, in any event, of moderate degree or reversible. Cortical necrosis is reported as rare, even in fatal cases. Little light has as yet been shed on the mechanisms responsible for ARF in PE-E. This paper describes 17 cases observed over the last 15 years, in which cortical necrosis (3 histological and 2 clinical diagnoses) was relatively frequent (29.4%). The severity of renal impairment did not appear to be related to chronological age, parity, period of pregnancy in which PE-E commenced and its duration prior to delivery, presence of frank eclamptic crises or the concomitance of earlier vascular or renal disease (p greater than 0.05). The superimposition of abruptio placentae (AP) was the only clinical factor significantly correlated with cortical necrosis (p greater than 0.05). The association PE-E + AP seems to be a particularly unfavorable prognostic sign for the kidney owing to the contribution of additional damage mechanisms (vasospasm, disseminated intravascular coagulation, hemorrhagic shock) furnished by AP, while PE-E itself prepares the ground for AP. The fact that PE-E is difficult to diagnose when AP is the onset symptom may be responsible for the underestimation of its contribution towards the induction of severe renal damage.

Abruptio Placentae↗
PubMed1987

Oxygen free radicals in nephrology.

For living creatures with an aerobic metabolism, the univalent reduction of oxygen can lead to formation within the cell of intermediate products with marked chemical instability and strong potential toxicity. These are the free radicals (FR) superoxide and hydroxyl, hydrogen peroxide and the singlet 1O2. Their toxicity is primarily expressed through the peroxidation of membrane lipids, resulting in mitochondrial, lysosomal and parietal damage. It is enhanced by the presence of metals in trace amounts. Imbalance between the production of FR and the availability of FR scavengers (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, etc.) may underlie different human pathologies. FR have been thought to play a part in inflammation, the aging process, carcinomatous transformations, damage due to recirculation and autoimmune diseases. As far as the kidney is concerned, the intervention of FR has been demonstrated or can be postulated in various contexts in the light of what has been observed in other pathologies: immunological nephritis, toxic nephropathies, microthrombotic and microangiopathic processes, damage caused by post-ischemic reflow, and problems in the preservation and rejection of transplants. FR have also been incriminated in lung lesions following intradialytic leukostasis and some aspects of toxicity ascribable to uremia. Subject to the precautions imposed by the need for theoretical, experimental and clinical verification, FR biochemistry offers new keys to the interpretation of a variety of kidney pathologies and opens up new prospects for treatment, both through a better understanding of the mechanism of action of drugs already known and employed, and with regard to the practical possibility of using alternative or combined forms of therapy.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Cerebral atrophy and neuropsychological correlates in schizophrenia.

Twenty-three patients with DSM III chronic schizophrenia, were given the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and had CT brain scans performed in order to measure the size of the 3rd and 4th ventricles and ventricular brain ratio (VBR). CT-scans showed an evident enlargement of the 3rd ventricle and a VBR overall significantly above that found in normal sample. No significant correlation between ventricular size and cognitive impairment was found. Possible meanings of these findings will be discussed in this paper.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Postpartum acute renal failure in a drug addict.

Renal diseases occur in intravenous drug abusers, especially heroin addicts, in the form of interstitial nephritis, nephrotic syndrome or acute renal failure due to rhabdomyolysis. We report a case of acute renal failure not ascribable to rhabdomyolysis nor to the main pathogenetic mechanisms of pregnancy-related acute renal failure in a pregnant heroin addict woman after vaginal delivery following uncomplicated pregnancy. Drug-related immunological abnormalities and microcirculatory distress may be involved.

Acute Kidney Injury↗
PubMed1986

Clinical and therapeutic correlations in consumption coagulopathy of obstetric acute renal failure.

Heparin has been proposed following the supposed role of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in the pathologies associated with the consumption coagulopathies such as obstetric acute renal failure (ARF), whilst antifibrinolytic agents could be advocated to stop a simultaneous triggered fibrinolysis. Out of 26 obstetric ARF DIC may be demonstrated in 10 and supposed in 6 patients who developed severe post-partum uterine bleeding. Therapeutic schedules employing heparin or antifibrinolytic agents early post-partum do not seem to change either the behaviour of laboratory parameters (showing a DIC partial resolution within 48 hours), or heavy bleeding in respect to the patients treated with supportive therapies alone. Furthermore, heparin administered during the following days does not seem to be a crucial factor in the renal recovery, and is often followed by severe haemorrhagic complications. Fresh frozen plasma after aprotinin is able to stop bleeding in the presence of persisting signs of consumption without damaging renal recovery.

Acute Kidney Injury↗
PubMed1986

Acute renal failure in obstetric complications.

Early postpartum disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was demonstrated by serial coagulation studies in 10 cases of acute renal failure (ARF) following obstetric complications (6 abruptio placentae, 3 retained placental fragments, 1 prolonged intrauterine fetal death). DIC abated within 48 hours irrespective of the therapeutic schedules employed. Renal damage was evidenced by a varying number of days of oligoanuric (6 cases) or polyuric (4 cases) ARF which always required dialytic treatment. Full renal recovery occurred in 9 cases. One patient died and no histological studies were performed. Renal damage seemed to correlate less with DIC than with the degree of anemia and shock.

Abruptio Placentae↗
PubMed1985

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone test in recently abstinent alcoholics.

Alcoholic men who had been abstinent from alcohol for more than 20 days were evaluated with the thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) test. Abstinent alcoholics showed a blunted thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) response to TRH as compared with healthy controls. In the absence of any somatic illnesses, these data suggest that the TSH blunting in some alcoholics may be interpreted as a trait marker of being alcoholic.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Hemorrheological approach to thrombotic microangiopathies.

Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia is a typical hematological feature of the syndromes characterized by thrombotic microangiopathy as histopathological lesion (hemolytic uremic syndrome and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura). Nevertheless endothelial lesions alone do not account for all morphologic red cell abnormalities seen in the blood smear, which cannot be explained only by mechanical damage. At least some of these erythrocytic alterations can be traced to primitive erythrocyte damage (by intrinsic or extrinsic toxic causes) responsible for a hemorrheological unbalance capable of participating in the pathogenetic mechanisms involved. Deformed and fragmented poorly deformable red cells can contribute by themselves to microcirculatory impairment, leading to endocapillary engorgement, increase of peripheral resistances and endothelial damage.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Morphological parameters in lupus nephritis: their relevance for classification and relationship with clinical and histological findings and outcome.

One hundred and sixty-seven renal biopsies from 147 patients with lupus nephritis were studied retrospectively to assess the contribution to morphological classification by features assessed with immunofluorescence and electron microscopy, together with pathological indices obtained by scoring specific histologic changes. The prognostic relevance of the histologic scoring was also evaluated. The biopsies were assigned to the following classes: I, absence of glomerular lesions; II, mesangial proliferation; III, focal segmental proliferation; IVa, diffuse (more than 50 per cent of the glomeruli) but segmentally distributed proliferation; IVb, diffuse and generalised proliferation; IVc, extracapillary proliferation; Va, pure membranous changes; Vb, membranous changes with slight mesangial proliferation; VI, association of class V and class III or IV. The incidence and degree of some glomerular and non-glomerular 'active' and 'sclerotic' changes as assessed by light microscopy were evaluated in the different classes. Both the activity and sclerosis indices obtained by scoring these lesions were found to be significantly higher in classes with glomerular proliferative changes. Eighteen patients had a second biopsy and two of these had a third; more severe changes were observed in nine and improvement in four. In 146 biopsies light microscopy findings were compared with immunofluorescence patterns (negative, mesangial, mesangial and peripheral, peripheral, membranous). The mesangial pattern was mainly present in class II with a few examples in classes I and III; in the last two the mesangial-peripheral pattern was most common; the peripheral pattern was by far the most common in class IV (a, b and c) and frequent in class VI; a membranous pattern was the rule in class V and occasionally found in class VI. Immunoglobulins (Igs) and complement (C) fractions were simultaneously present in most cases, IgG, C3 and C1q being the commonest in all classes. Except for IgM and fibrinogen, the differences in distribution of Igs and C fractions among the various classes were statistically significant. The deposits most commonly found by electron microscopy in all biopsies were mesangial; subendothelial deposits were mainly found in classes with active glomerular changes, frequently associated with deposits at the other sites in the most severe cases. A highly significant correlation was found between the activity index and the sclerosis index and severity of the clinical picture at biopsy. An unfavourable progress was confined mainly to classes with extensive intracapillary proliferation and correlated significantly with the highest activity and sclerosis indices.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

In vivo localization of C3 on the brush border of proximal tubules of kidneys from nephrotic patients.

Deposits of C3 but not of C1q and C4 were detected on the proximal tubules of kidneys from nephrotic patients with non-selective proteinuria. The incidence of tubular C3 deposits was significantly higher in patients with membranous glomerulonephritis, focal glomerulosclerosis, membrano-proliferative glomerulonephritis and non-selective proteinuria than in patients with minimal change disease, nephrotic syndrome and selective proteinuria or in patients with glomerular disease, but without nephrotic syndrome. The occurrence of tubular C3 deposits was positively correlated with the amount of urinary C3 excretion. In vitro studies showed that the human normal kidney as well as pathologic specimens negative for in vivo tubular C3 deposits were able to bind C3 on the brush border of proximal tubules when incubated with fresh heterologous serum. In contrast, in patients with non-selective proteinuria and in vivo tubular C3 deposits, the binding of heterologous C3 to the brush border of proximal tubules was markedly reduced. The positive correlation between the occurrence of tubular C3 deposits and the urinary complement excretion, together with the detection of the C3 breakdown products in the urines further supported the hypothesis that complement components, once filtrated through the glomerular barrier, might be activated by the brush border of the proximal tubule.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Muzolimine in chronic renal failure: a study in 16 patients.

Muzolimine is a diuretic with chemical features different from all other known diuretics, and its use seem to be particularly interesting in patients with chronic renal failure. In fact, similarly to furosemide, muzolimine presents a strong action on Henle's loop but with a slower and more lasting effect, as experimentally demonstrated in both animals and man. We used high doses muzolimine (240, 480, 720 mg/die) in 16 patients with chronic renal failure (creatinine clearance less than 20 ml/min) and clinical pattern of important hydrosaline retention (6 primitive glomerulonephritis, 3 interstitial nephrites, 1 vascular nephropathy, 1 diabetic nephropathy, 1 lupus nephritis, 1 amyloidosis, 1 polycystic nephropathy and 2 nephropathies of unknown diagnosis). Muzolimine diuretic action was compared with furosemide 500 mg/die. The schedule employed was: furosemide 500 mg/die for 5 days followed by 6 days of muzolimine treatment at increasing doses (240 mg on 1st and 2nd day, 480 mg on 3rd and 4th, 720 mg on 5th and 6th). In all patients (undergoing a diet constant in water, sodium, potassium and protein content) body weight, blood pressure, heart rate, serum and urinary electrolyte concentration, serum and urinary uric acid, BUN, creatinine clearance, glycaemia, hematocrit and hemoglobin were daily controlled. A clinical and laboratory investigation of the possible side effects was also assessed; in particular liver enzymes, bilirubin and total serum proteins were considered. In our study muzolimine increased the renal excretion of water, sodium and chloride in all cases. This effect is more evident during the treatment with the highest dose (720 mg/die) but already appears with the 480 mg/die dose and is higher than that obtained with comparable doses of furosemide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Plasma exchange-induced biological stress of the Hagemann-mediated systems: results of contact activation and plasma substitution.

Plasma exchange can induce changes in the biological systems of coagulation, fibrinolysis, complement and kinins, either by contact activation or plasma substitution. In order to know which of the two is responsible, the actual initial and final values and theoretical calculated final values were compared. Fibrinogen, Antithrombin III and platelets fell more than expected, and there was a significant increase in Platelet-Factor four and Betathromboglobulin which was greater than would produced by plasma substitution alone. Fibrinolysis is shortened and white cells rise. Complement and kinins were not significantly changed. During plasma exchange, contact activation actually triggers coagulo-fibrinolytic pathway and stresses cellular components.

Adult↗