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R Rinaldi

Publications and source records attributed to R Rinaldi.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Ultrasound guided percutaneous ethanol injection in the treatment of cystic thyroid nodules.

OBJECTIVE: The management of cystic lesions in the thyroid remains controversial. We examined the efficacy and safety of ultrasound guided percutaneous ethanol injection for the treatment of benign cystic thyroid nodules in euthyroid patients. STUDY DESIGN: (A) Preliminary randomized trial: 20 patients with predominantly cystic thyroid nodules were randomized in two groups and followed up for 1 month. Group 1 underwent fine needle aspiration of the fluid component of the nodules; Group 2 underwent percutaneous ethanol injection at the end of fine needle aspiration of the cyst fluid. (B) Prospective study: 32 patients with the same clinical characteristics (Group 3) were treated by fine needle aspiration and percutaneous ethanol injection, and followed up for 12 months. METHODS: Groups 1 and 2: clinical evaluation, thyroid ultrasonography, thyroid scintiscan and serum thyroid hormone profile were performed before treatment and one month later. Group 3: clinical evaluation, thyroid ultrasonography and serum thyroid hormone profile were performed in basal conditions and 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 months after treatment. Thyroid scintiscan was performed before treatment and 3-6 months later. RESULTS: (A) Randomized study: one month after treatment, nodule volume decrease in Group 2 was significantly higher than in Group 1 (Group 2: median 14.75 range 6-29.9 ml; Group 1: median 3.65 range 0.2-18.5 ml; P < 0.01). Nodule volume reduction was greater than 50% versus baseline in 8 (80%) patients in Group 2 and in 3 (30%) patients in Group 1 (P < 0.01). (B) Prospective study (Group 3): a significant nodule volume reduction (P < 0.01 vs pretreatment) was observed 1 and 12 months after percutaneous ethanol injection (pretreatment: median 14.5, range 1.5-65.8 ml; 1 month: median 3.5, range 0.4-38.9 ml; 12 months: median 2.5, range 0.4-34.5 ml). Nodule volume reduction greater than 50% was recorded in 24 (80%) patients. Groups 1-3: recurrence of cyst fluid was demonstrated by ultrasonography in 8 patients of Group 1, in 3 patients of Group 2 and in 1 patient of Group 3. No relevant adverse effects or significant biochemical changes were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound guided percutaneous ethanol injection of cystic thyroid nodules is a safe, low-cost and effective therapeutic procedure in patients with benign thyroid cystic nodules. Indeed, nodule volume reduction was significantly greater and more frequent in patients treated by percutaneous ethanol injection than in those patients who underwent fluid aspiration alone. These results were confirmed in a long-term prospective trial and only one fluid recurrence was observed during 12 months of follow-up.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Multiple sclerosis with very late onset: report of six cases and review of the literature.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) usually starts in young adulthood. However, the disease may appear late or very late in life. We report 6 cases with onset after the age of 59 years and review the literature. As in early onset disease, the diagnosis is mainly clinical. Laboratory findings and paraclinical evidence may support the diagnosis of clinical data are not sufficient. In elderly patients clinical history and laboratory data should be thoroughly appraised to exclude conditions more common in old age such as vascular diseases.

Age of Onset↗
PubMed1993

Paroxysmal periodic motor attacks during sleep: clinical and polygraphic features.

Three patients complained of paroxysmal motor attacks during sleep. Videopolygraphic recordings showed that motor activity could be divided into events of increasing behavioural complexity. Simpler motor events often represented the initial fragment of more complex attacks. Clinical features suggested the attacks represented frontal lobe epileptic seizures. The attacks recurred during NREM sleep with a periodic repetition every 20-60 sec. This periodicity could be related to the analogous physiological oscillation during light sleep and the periodicity of K complexes, exerting a facilitating influence upon epileptic mechanisms.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Long-term results of echographically guided percutaneous ethanol injection in the treatment of the autonomous thyroid nodule].

Ultrasound-guided percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) was performed as a therapeutic procedure on twenty-four patients affected by toxic autonomously functioning thyroid nodules (AFTN). After treatment patients were followed up for a mean period of 12 months. PEI induced persistent and complete (clinical and hormonal) disease control in 19/23 cases (82.6%) that completed the procedure, normalization of serum FT4 and FT3 associated with a still suppressed TSH in 2/23 cases (8.6%) and failed to control hyperthyroidism in 2/23 cases (8.6%). After PEI all AFTN became smaller at clinical and US examination with a 60% mean volume decrease. Nodule shrinkage was related to cytological and histological findings of well circumscribed coagulative necrosis, granulomatous inflammation and progressive fibrosis. PEI induced two cases of temporary complications: 1 case of acute worsening of thyrotoxicosis and 1 case of self-resolving vocal cord paresis. No increase of serum autoantibodies (TgAb, TPOAb, TRAb) was detected during the follow-up period.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Plasma 19-hydroxy-androstenedione (19-OH-A) in essential hypertension.

19-hydroxy-androstenedione (19-OH-A), a C19 steroid, is an amplifier of the sodium retaining action of aldosterone under the control of ACTH and renin-angiotensin system. These findings suggest that 19-OH-A may be involved in the regulation of hydroelectrolyte balance and blood pressure. Aim of the present study was to examine the behaviour of 19-OH-A in normal volunteers (N) and in patients with Essential Hypertension (EH) in basal conditions and after dynamic tests such as postural changes, physical exercise and ACTH administration. The significant increase in 19-OH-A after ACTH confirms its adrenal origin. During bicycle exercise the significant increase in plasma catecholamines, renin-activity, aldosterone, blood pressure and heart rate at maximum effort was not associated with a parallel increase in 19-OH-A. No significant differences were found in plasma 19-OH-A levels between N and EH patients both in basal conditions and after dynamic tests. Therefore, our findings seem to exclude an important role of 19-OH-A in the pathogenesis of EH.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1991

Lyme disease. First reported case in Sicily.

Recently many cases of Lyme disease have been described in Italy. The patients come prevalently from Friuli Venezia Giulia and the eastern Ligurian Coast. Isolated cases have been diagnosed in other parts of northern Italy and in the central regions. We describe the first Sicilian case, concluding that Lyme borreliosis may well be widely distributed in our country.

Follow-Up Studies↗
PubMed1991

Plasma catecholamine responses during a personalized physical stress as a dynamic characterization of essential hypertension.

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection proves to be a reliable method for determination of plasma catecholamines (CA) to assess the possible role of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) in essential hypertension (EH). The present investigation in a group of 15 normotensive (N) and 13 stable EH patients, homogeneous for age and duration of hypertension, was carried out without treatment in the supine position, up-right position and during a personalized bicycle exercise. Mean blood pressure, mean heart rate, plasma renin activity and plasma aldosterone were also evaluated at the various exertion phases. Norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E) showed a progressive increase in N and in EH patients, reaching the highest values at maximum effort. However, EH patients showed higher E plasma levels than N before maximum effort. Dopamine (DA) reached the highest values in N at maximum effort and in EH patients at recovery time. These findings allow us to foresee the possibility of a better characterization of the SNS role in EH.

Adult↗