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Biomedical subjects

T Todisco

Publications and source records attributed to T Todisco.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

ACTH 1-17 effects in intrinsic bronchial asthma.

We have studied the effect of Synchrodyn 1-17 (100 micrograms/day/15 days, intramuscularly) on 12 patients with intrinsic asthma, presenting a circadian pattern in several functional parameters related to the bronchial patency (and/or with bouts of nocturnal asthma). Treatment with ACTH 1-17 had two main effects: the pathological rhythms of the bronchial tone disappeared and there was a clear general improvement in the indices of bronchial patency. The drug was well tolerated. Euphoria and water retention were the side effects: they were noticed in a variable number of subjects and disappeared after discontinuation of treatment.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mucociliary clearance and mucosal surface characteristics before and after total laryngectomy.

Forty heavy smokers, all males aged between 40 and 70 and affected by laryngeal cancer underwent mucociliary clearance evaluation the day before total laryngectomy, 60 days after and, in 6 of them, 5 years later. Specimens of nasal and tracheal mucosa were obtained during laryngectomy and other subsequent operations. Before total laryngectomy, no significant changes in nasal mucociliary clearance were observed in smokers and controls, and the nasal ciliary carpet was fairly well preserved. Bronchial mucociliary clearance was impaired in all patients, owing to the coexistent chronic obstructive bronchitis. 60 days after the operation, nasal mucociliary clearance was significantly improved when compared with the preoperative data and controls, owing to the increase in the endonasal temperature and humidity, and to the reduction of the nasal blood flow and disappearance of the nasal cycle, which follow tracheostomy. Surface morphologic studies show a change in the squamous epithelium of the anterior third of the nasal fossa into a columnar ciliated one. During the first 3 months after the operation, tracheobronchial mucociliary clearance increased of 50% vis-à-vis the preoperative data. During this period a clinically evident bronchial hypersecretion was observed. The reduction in nasal and tracheobronchial mucociliary clearance function which became evident 6 years after the operation, is probably due to secondary chronic infections.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Acid-base changes in acute exacerbation of chronic hypercapnia in man.

Acid-base parameters were studied in 10 adult patients with chronic respiratory failure during spontaneous acute exacerbations of chronic hypercapnia and after return and stabilization of PaCO2 values at previous levels with improvement of clinical conditions. All factors interfering with acid-base equilibrium were carefully avoided. The results of this investigation confirm qualitatively those obtained by GOLDSTEIN et al. [7] in dog studies and those of INGRAM et al. [9]in human studies: increasing degrees of chronic hypercapnia tend to minimize the pH reduction induced by acute PACO2 changes. From a quantitative standpoint INGRAM's data in humans are considerably different from GOLDSTEIN's data obtained in dogs. Our data, although numerically limited, confirm the acute deltaH+/deltaPaCO2 slope obtained from dogs by GOLDSTEIN et al. As data are not yet sufficient, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn. However the pattern of acid-base equilibrium changes in man in this situation seems to be similar to that observed by GOLDSTEIN et al. in the dog and could be described with reasonable accuracy by the theoretical model of LEUENBERGER et al.[13].

Acid-Base Equilibrium↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Interferon-gamma (r-IFN-gamma) induced activation of alveolar macrophages (AM) from anergic patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Forty-six anergic patients (37 males and 9 females, age range 55-79 yr) were selected from ninety-one patients suffering from COPD due to frequent exacerbations and impaired delayed cutaneous reactivity (43.9%). The phenotype of circulating lymphocytes, their proliferative response to a panel of polyclonal T-cell activators and the candidacidal activity (CA) of circulating PMNs (polymorphonuclear cells) were measured. In 13 patients presenting a defective CA of circulating PMNs, the in vitro response of alveolar macrophage CA to r-IFN-gamma was also determined. We found: 1) a significant reduction in the CL response to PHA in COPD patients vs controls; 2) a low PMN-CA in 23 (57%) COPD patients; 3) a non-significant difference in phenotype analysis in patients and controls; 4) lower CA of AMs in COPD patients than in controls; 5) restoration in vitro of CA by r-IFN-gamma in the group of anergic COPD patients presenting depressed CA. We conclude that a defective cell-mediated immunity could be the basis of the enhanced susceptibility to infectious exacerbations in many COPD patients and that, in vitro, it could be reversed by r-IFN-gamma treatment.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[A rare cause of pulmonary coin lesion: Rendu-Osler-Weber disease].

The diagnosis of lung coin lesions (peripheral lesions with a diameter of no more than 6 cm) is one of the most important problems in pneumology. Among the numerous causes of coin lesions, the presence of malignancies must always be excluded. The Authors describe an unusual case of lung arteriovenous fistula in a patient suffering from Rendu-Osler-Weber disease. The importance of a multi-step diagnosis, starting with non-invasive procedures is stressed; this is to avoid life threatening complications which may occur after lung trans-thoracic biopsies of previously undiagnosed vascular abnormalities.

Aged↗