Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Mancini

Publications and source records attributed to S Mancini.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

[Evaluation of serum IgG sub-classes in children with recurrent respiratory infections].

Serum IgG sub-classes levels were measured by radial immunodiffusion with policlonal antibodies in 26 children aged 2 years to 8 years, affected with respiratory recurrent infections. These subjects were controlled and compared with normal children values for age groups. In 10 patients a deficit of IgG sub-classes levels was found, in 7 patients an increase level for IgG1 was detected. These data must be taken in account defining IgG-sub-classes deficiencies in children with respiratory recurrent infection.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1995

DHAP regimen plus G-CSF as salvage therapy and priming for blood progenitor cell collection in patients with poor prognosis lymphoma.

We studied 14 patients affected by lymphoma to assess the toxicity, efficacy and mobilization capability of salvage DHAP regimen followed by G-CSF 5 micrograms/kg/day. Ten patients were affected by intermediate-grade NHL and 4 by HD; all of them were in relapse or in PR. We administered a total of 34 courses of DHAP plus G-CSF (median 2 per patient; range 1-5) and did not observe either life-threatening extrahematologic toxicity or severe infections during the short neutropenic period. A significant tumor burden reduction was observed in 86% of patients (50% CR, 36% PR). A total of 35 aphereses were performed (median 3 per patient; range 1-5). The hemopoietic progenitors showed a very rapid increase from day +11 with a synchronous and impressive peak on day +13. We collected a median of 2.6 x 10(6)/kg CD34+ cells, 10 x 10(4)/kg CFU-GM, 5 x 10(4)/kg BFU-E and 0.5 x 10(4)/kg CFU-GEMM per apheresis. All patients transplanted with PBPC had a rapid and sustained hematological recovery. The DHAP regimen followed by G-CSF proved to be a very effective and well-tolerated schedule for debulking disease before transplantation and for enhancing progenitor cell mobilization.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Food allergy: comparison of diagnostic techniques].

Fourteen children affected with allergic disease, from 8 months to 7-years-old, were studied; three children had Bronchial asthma, one child Bronchial asthma and rhinitis, one child recurrent laryngospasm, six children atopic dermatitis, two children diarrhoea, one abdominal pain. In all patients cow's milk and egg were the most common offending foods. Total IgE serum level, IgE serum specific, Prick test and ALCAT test (the test predicts food which would produce a problem) were investigated. A comparison among the different laboratory methods for food allergy diagnosis was analyzed.

Asthma↗
PubMed1994

Folinic acid and 5-fluorouracil as adjuvant chemotherapy in colon cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Colon cancer is one of the major health problems in industrialized countries, and its incidence appears to be increasing. Surgical resectability is the most important prognostic determinant, although despite apparently curative surgery, recurrent tumors are common. Metastatic disease cannot be cured, and thus, there is a need for better adjuvant therapies. METHODS: Two hundred and thirty-nine patients with surgically resected colon cancer in Dukes' stage B2 or C were randomly assigned to chemotherapy or observation alone to determine whether adjuvant chemotherapy could effectively reduce the rate of cancer recurrence. One hundred and twenty-one patients in stage B2 and 118 patients in stage C were enrolled in the study. Adjuvant treatment consisted of folinic acid 200 mg/m2, intravenously, plus 5-fluorouracil 400 mg/m2, intravenously, on days 1-5 every 4 weeks for 12 cycles. RESULTS: In stage B2, no significant difference between the adjuvant arm and the observation arm was noted. In stage C, adjuvant chemotherapy produced an advantage over observation in terms of a reduction in cancer recurrence rate with prolongation of a disease-free interval (P = 0.0016) and an improvement in overall survival (P = 0.0025). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that folinic acid plus 5-fluorouracil adjuvant chemotherapy is effective in patients with surgically resected Dukes' stage C colon carcinoma.

Chemotherapy, Adjuvant↗
PubMed1994

[Drug-induced interstitial nephritis. A case report].

Most instance of drug-induced renal disease are probably due to direct toxicity; the most common immunologically mediated lesion of the kidney due to drugs appears to be interstitial nephritis-fever, skin rash, eosinophilia, eosinophiluria frequently accompany the renal symptoms. One case we report due to ceftriaxone; the disease subsided completely when the treatment with the drug has been stopped.

Ceftriaxone↗
PubMed1994

[Pharmacologic treatment and atopic dermatitis].

The role of etiology, pathogenesis and clinical symptoms in children with Atopic Dermatitis is evaluated. Eighteen patients with elimination diet were treated, without cow milk and egg, and with pharmacologic treatment (ketotiphene and cro molyn sodium) for two months. Dietary therapy and treatment however result in a large reduction in clinical symptoms in children affected with Atopic Dermatitis.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

[Cardiorespiratory changes induced in man by the acute occlusion of the main bronchus].

Following the exclusion of the ventilation of a lung, perfusion is arrested as a consequence of the Von Euler and Liljestrand vasoconstrictive reflex. However it is as yet unknown how long this phenomenon takes to manifest itself in human beings. In order to verify whether hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction follows immediately on the arrest of ventilation or whether there is one some delay, in 21 candidates for pneumonectomy a bronchial block was provoked during fibrobronchoscopy and the hemogasanalytic modifications induced by the acute occlusion of the main bronchus have been studied. The analysis of the resulting data allows for the hypothesis that the exclusion of lung ventilation for 14 minutes is not sufficient to cause the complete manifestation of the hypoxic vasoconstrictive reflex.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

[Endoscopic laser therapy in the palliative treatment of cancer of the esophagus].

Frequently when dysphagia first becomes manifest, esophageal carcinoma is already unresectable. Endoscopic laser therapy is a recently introduced method which can be used for the palliative treatment of esophageal cancer. By using the method the tumour is destroyed and the esophagus is recanalized, there is low incidence of complications, and the patient can be fed naturally thus improving quality of life. The method has been perfected over the past years and now offers excellent results.

Esophageal Neoplasms↗
PubMed1992

Double-blind randomized phase I study on the clinical tolerance and biological effects of natural and recombinant interferon-beta.

The clinical tolerance of and the effects recombinant human interferon-beta (rHuIFN-beta) obtained from mammalian cells (Chinese hamster ovary cells) exerts on 2',5'-oligoadenyl (2-5A) synthetase activity, human-Mx protein, neopterin, beta 2-microglobulin, interleukin-1 (IL-1) alpha and beta synthesis were compared to those of natural IFN-beta in 12 healthy volunteers. Each subject received a single i.m. injection of 6 x 10(6) IU rHuIFN-beta and natural IFN-beta according to a randomized double-blind cross-over study design. Both were well tolerated and provoked similar changes in clinical indices. Moreover, rHuIFN-beta and natural IFN-beta induced significant and similar increases in 2'-5' adenylates, human Mx protein, and neopterin levels, but neither modulated beta 2-microglobulin, IL-1 alpha or beta synthesis. The sum of these findings indicates that rHuIFN-beta and natural IFN-beta are biologically equivalent. In view of these results, we are of the opinion that these two types of IFN are probably also therapeutically equivalent and, in consequence, that trials to evaluate the response of viral and neoplastic disease patients to rHuIFN-beta are fully justified.

2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase↗
PubMed1992

Automated measurement of red blood cell microcytosis and hypochromia in iron deficiency and beta-thalassemia trait.

Some routine red blood cell (RBC) measurements and indexes (count, mean volume, volume dispersion, and mean hemoglobin [HGB] concentration) can be used to differentiate iron deficiency from heterozygous beta-thalassemia. A number of formulas that incorporate two or more of these measurements have been described to amplify such differences. The H*1 hematology analyzer directly measures volume and HGB concentration of individual RBCs. We have assessed the diagnostic usefulness of conventional and new RBC measurements provided by the H*1 on a learning data set that comprised 119 patients with iron deficiency and 172 patients with beta-thalassemia trait, both untreated and uncomplicated. The most striking finding was the inverse behavior of percentages of microcytes (volume, less than 60 fL) and hypochromic RBCs (HGB concentration, less than 280 g/L) in the two conditions. In 162 of 172 patients with beta-thalassemia trait, the percentage of microcytes (mean, 33.1%; central 95th percentile range, 9.2% to 54.5%) was higher than the percentage of hypochromic RBCs (mean, 13.9%; central 95th percentile range, 1.7% to 24.7%). In 105 of 119 patients with iron deficiency, on the contrary, the percentage of hypochromic cells (mean, 34.6%; central 95th percentile range, 9.7% to 73.1%) was higher than the percentage of microcytes (mean, 12.8%; central 95th percentile range, 1.7% to 29.6%). The ratio between the percentage of microcytes and the percentage of hypochromic cells provided by the H*1 (microcytic-hypochromic ratio) was useful in differentiating the two types of microcytic anemia: with the use of a discriminant value of 0.9, the discriminant efficiency of the microcytic-hypochromic ratio was 92.4% (95% confidence interval, 88.8% to 95.2%), higher than that of the five previously described discriminant formulas and simple RBC measurements. When assessed on a test data set that comprised 149 unselected cases of microcytic anemia, a microcytic-hypochromic ratio lower than 0.9 demonstrated high sensitivity (94.0%), specificity (92.3%), and predictive value (94.0%) for the presence of iron-deficient erythropoiesis in patients with isolated iron deficiency, polycythemia vera treated by phlebotomy, and iron deficiency complicating heterozygous thalassemia. In conclusion, our results showed that iron-deficient erythropoiesis is characterized by the production of RBCs with a severely decreased HGB concentration, while microcytes of beta-thalassemia trait are generally smaller, with a more preserved HGB concentration. Such properties, as assessed by the H*1 hematology analyzer, are very useful in distinguishing these two common types of microcytic anemia.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗
PubMed1991

[Blocking antibodies during specific hyposensitization immunotherapy in respiratory allergies in children].

A group of 35 children affected by bronchial asthma, rhinitis and/or allergic conjunctivitis was examined; the children selected for the study had never undergone ITS before; all patients had received preventive drug and nondrug therapy for several months but none had succeeded in significantly reducing allergic clinical symptoms. Subcutaneous ITS Lofarma was prescribed for all patients (for various allergens) and blocking antibodies (IgG1 + IgG4) were assayed using a RAST system (Kit-Pharmacia) before the start of the study, and after 3, 9 and 12 months of therapy; 25 nonatopic children represented the control group. Although a certain number of allergen-specific blocking antibodies were present in all patients before the start of ITS, a significant increase in IgG1 + IgG4 specific allergens was observed after 9 months (especially for pollenosis). Compatible results were also obtained for blocking antibodies for children affected by dermatophagoides following 12 months of ITS. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the extent of the appearance of blocking antibodies in the circulation following ITS and to discover whether or not there was a correlation between their increased titre and improvement of the disease assessed by the use of clinical scores.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Gastric and duodenal villous tumor: new diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities].

With reference to recent data reported in the literature, the authors stress the importance of new techniques for the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal villous adenoma. This is a comparatively infrequent tumor which usually occurs in adults above the age of 50 and has no familial incidence. The tumor is apt to evolve towards malignancy. Radiology, and more recently endoscopy permit to ascertain the diagnosis. Endoscopic resection is the treatment of choice while surgical ablation is indicated in sessile or extensive forms.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1990

Evolution of neuropsychological changes after partial callosotomy in intractable epilepsy.

Early neuropsychological changes following partial anterior callosotomy were evaluated in 15 patients with epilepsy (10 secondary generalized and 5 Lennox-Gastaut syndromes) by comparing their performances 1 month before surgery and then 15-20 and 90-100 days postoperatively without modifying the anticonvulsant treatment. The following neuropsychological and motor functions were tested: memory, attention, visuo-motor ability, posture, motor dexterity, language, praxis and gnosis. Social behaviour was also investigated. The main results are as follows: (i) most cognitive functions showed no significant variation; (ii) motor organization was still slightly impaired at the second check-up after the surgery; (iii) improvements in social behaviour and posture were frequently observed at the final evaluation. The analysis of individual cases highlights the influence of the extent of commissurotomy, lesions related to the surgical procedure and preoperative brain damage in determining the post-surgical profile. On this basis, the short-term neuropsychological cost of partial callosotomy appears to be low and seems to depend mostly on surgical parameters and brain conditions before the operation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

[Spleen autotransplant. Natural history and description of a case].

After considering the natural history of spleen auto-transplant, a clinical case followed up for seven months with instrumental (echography, scintigraphy) and humoral (Jolly bodies, Heinz bodies, reticulocytes, platelets, complement, immune globulin) examinations has been considered so as to verify "take" and function. One months after reimplantation the patient was again operated on for the onset of an intestinal occlusion due to adherences. On that occasion it was possible to control that the implant had taken. It is concluded that personally used parameters proved to be well correlated and that scintigraphy and echography are two complementary, effective techniques for monitoring auto-transplants.

Adult↗