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R Caramazza

Publications and source records attributed to R Caramazza.

53 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Dryness symptoms, diagnostic protocol and therapeutic management: a report on 1,200 patients.

PURPOSE: To report the diagnostic and therapeutic data obtained from 1,200 patients suffering from dry eye symptoms not due to Sjögren's syndrome or other auto-immune diseases. METHODS: Schirmer test I, ferning test, breakup time, vital dye staining, brush and imprint cytology were performed; data were grouped into diagnostic profiles, and the therapy was prescribed according to these. RESULTS: Eight diagnostic profiles were identified. Dry eye was diagnosed in 57.1% of patients; the remaining 42.9% were found to suffer from eye discomfort or conjunctivitis of different aetiologies. CONCLUSIONS: Subjective symptoms of dryness can hide diseases other than dry eye; combined clinical and laboratory tests are requested to make a diagnosis. Our experience indicates that a therapy prescribed on the basis of diagnostic profiles provides relief in 79.1% of cases.

Conjunctiva↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prostaglandin analogs and blood-aqueous barrier integrity: a flare cell meter study.

PURPOSE: To study, with an objective method, inflammation of the anterior segment of the glaucomatous eye after treatment with latanoprost, travoprost and bimatoprost. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma aged between 38 and 76 years (mean 64.0 +/- 12.2) were randomly assigned to latanoprost 0.005, travoprost 0.004 and bimatoprost 0.03%. The study period lasted 6 months. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured every 2 weeks. We studied the intraocular inflammation before and after 3 and 6 months of therapy with an instrument composed of a He-Ne laser beam system, a photomultiplier mounted on a slitlamp microscope and a computer. This flare meter allows objective determination of the flare and the number of cells in the aqueous of the anterior chamber. RESULTS: At the baseline, IOP was 26.4 +/- 3.6 mm Hg. After 3 months of treatment, mean IOP in the latanoprost group was 17.9 +/- 0.3 mm Hg (p < 0.001) with a mean cellularity of 12.638 +/- 3.284 photons/ms (p < 0.001). The travoprost group had an IOP of 17.2 +/- 0.3 mm Hg (p < 0.001) with a cellularity of 9.719 +/- 1.927 photons/ms (0.001). Finally, IOP in the bimatoprost group was 17.6 +/- 0.5 mm Hg (p < 0.001) with a cellularity of 6.138 +/- 1.475 photons/ms (p < 0.032). After 6 months of treatment, IOP in the latanoprost group was 18.1 +/- 0.3 (p < 0.001), in the travoprost group 17.3 +/- 0.3 (p < 0.001) and in the bimatoprost group 17.7 +/- 0.5 mm Hg (p < 0.001), whereas cellularity was 11.838 +/- 3.218 (p < 0.001), 8.950 +/- 3.692 (p < 0.001) and 7.617 +/- 2.603 photons/ms (p < 0.001), respectively. After 3 months, the travoprost (p < 0.013) and the bimatoprost groups (p < 0.001) had less flare compared with the latanoprost group and this remained so even at 6 months. When we compared the travoprost group with the bimatoprost group, we found significantly less flare at 3 months in the bimatoprost group (p < 0.001) but not at 6 months (p < 0.246). CONCLUSIONS: The flare meter analysis shows that the eyes treated with bimatoprost and travoprost have a less significantly broken blood-aqueous barrier and their anterior chamber is also significantly less inflamed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Interferon alpha in the therapy of conjunctival lymphoma in an HIV+ patient.

The authors evaluated the efficacy of interferon-alpha used intralesionally in the therapy of low-grade conjunctival non-Hodgkin lymphoma in an HIV-positive patient. The patient received one intralesional injection of 1,000,000 U of interferon-alpha three times a week for a total of twelve doses. The remission of conjunctival involvement was seen three months from the end of therapy. The intralesional use of interferon-alpha can be considered an efficacious therapy for low-grade conjunctival non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Conjunctival Neoplasms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ultrastructural localization of ConA and WGA receptors on human corneal endothelium.

Corneal endothelial cell plasma membrane plays an important role in maintaining normal thickness and transparency of the cornea. We investigated the molecular organization of endothelial cell membrane using lectins labeled with colloidal gold as ultrastructural probes. We detected the presence of Concanavalin A and Wheat Germ Agglutinin which recognize specific carbohydrate residues of membrane glycoconjugates. We think that this fine cytochemical approach may be useful to better understand the transport mechanisms between aqueous humor and corneal endothelium and to study adaptation and aging of corneal endothelial cells.

Concanavalin A↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Preparation and activity of complexes of transition metals and thiolic heterocyclic ligands.

The study on the co-ordination chemistry of the complexes with thiolic heterocyclic ligands is based on the ion metals binding precisely to the sulphur atom. Studies were consequently carried out on the complexes with some thiolic ligands, such as: 2-imidazolidine-thione (IMT), hydantoin (ID), 2-thiohydantoin (TIOID), rhodanine (RD), 2-mercaptoimidazole (MI), 2-mercapto-1-methylimidazole (MMI) and 2-mercaptopyridine (MPYR), supposing that the co-ordination bond between sulphur and metal is stronger than the possible bond between nitrogen or oxygen and metal due to the minor difference in electronegativity existing between sulphur and metal compared with that existing between nitrogen or oxygen and metal. Complexes of the kind we prepared generally present relatively low constants of instability, marking a strong bond between the metal and the ligand. This would seem to be in direct correlation with the anti-bacterial and herbicidal activity. The activity of the complex in fact proves to be more marked than that of the pure ligand, and the increase appears to be in proportion to the strength of the bond between the metal and the ligand, as seen by the low values of the relative constants of instability. We may imagine that the decrease in the constants of instability corresponds to an increase in the strength of the co-ordination bond and to a parallel increase in the activity and the hypothesis is in accordance with the premised correlation between the strength of the metal-ligand bond and the biological activity.

Chelating Agents↗