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Biomedical subjects

V Terruzzi

Publications and source records attributed to V Terruzzi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Randomized study comparing omeprazole plus amoxycillin versus omeprazole plus clarithromycin for eradication of Helicobacter pylori.

BACKGROUND: Dual therapy with omeprazole plus amoxycillin or with omeprazole plus clarithromycin has been proposed for eradication of Helicobacter pylori. The main problem is the great variability in the rate of eradication. METHODS: A group of 287 consecutive patients with active peptic ulcers and H. pylori infections were admitted to a prospective, randomized, multicentre study, to be given omeprazole 20 mg b.d. plus either amoxycillin 1 g b.d. or clarithromycin 500 mg t.d.s. for 2 weeks. Cure was defined as the absence of H. pylori infection, 4-6 weeks after completing anti-microbial therapy, assessed by urease activity and histology of antral and body gastric biopsies. RESULTS: The bacteria were eradicated in 68/143 patients (48%) treated with amoxycillin and omeprazole and 70/144 patients (49%) treated with clarithromycin and omeprazole (intention-to-treat analysis). The ulcers were healed in 118/127 patients (93%) treated with amoxycillin and in 115/123 (94%) of those treated with clarithromycin. Undesirable effects were rare with both treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Combined treatment with omeprazole plus either amoxycillin or clarithromycin produced a high percentage of short-term healing of ulcers and was well tolerated, but is not useful as first-line anti-Helicobacter pylori treatment.

Adolescent

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum: a rare cause of gastrointestinal bleeding.

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a rare connective tissue disorder. The main clinical features of this condition are characteristic skin lesions, angioid streaks of the fundus oculi, and occlusive vascular disease. Gastric hemorrhage is a rare complication. A gastroscopic examination was performed on two patients with PXE who presented with upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding. The two patients had submucosal yellowish nodular lesions similar to the xanthoma-like skin lesions seen in the disease. We suggest that a diagnosis of PXE be considered for any patient with gastrointestinal hemorrhage, especially if routine clinical and endoscopic examination fail to reveal the cause, and if raised yellow plaque-like lesions are seen in the stomach by endoscopy.

Adolescent

First bleeding episode from oesophageal varices in cirrhotic patients: a prospective study of endoscopic predictive factors.

Two hundred patients affected by liver cirrhosis and oesophageal varices were studied in 9 Gastrointestinal Units in Lombardy (Northern Italy) in order to assess factors possibly related to variceal bleeding. Only patients without any previous episode of gastrointestinal bleeding were included in the prospective evaluation. For each patient demographic data, aetiology of cirrhosis, various clinical and biochemical parameters able to group patients into the three Child-Pugh Classes, endoscopic items for calculation of Beppu's and of NIEC prognostic scores were recorded on computerized cards. Patients were regularly interviewed every three months for one year and underwent an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at enrollment, after six months and in case of bleeding. Within the twelve-month follow-up period, 29 out of the 200 patients (14%) bled and 52 out of 200 died (26%). In 16 of the 52 patients who died (59% of bleeding patients) death was directly related to gastrointestinal bleeding. Bleeding from oesophageal varices was endoscopically proven in 19/29 patients, in another 9 bleeding was classified as from unknown source and in one patient a bleeding gastric ulcer was diagnosed. Univariate analysis of all the recorded clinical, biochemical and endoscopic parameters, performed by Chi-square method and Fisher exact test showed that the presence of RWM (p < 0.001) was the only factor significantly associated to variceal bleeding within one year. Relationship between size of varices and bleeding was very close to the statistical significance but did not achieve it (p = 0.058).

Adult

Biphasic diurnal periodicity in bleeding from peptic ulcer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if there was periodicity in the manifestations of gastrointestinal bleeding (hematemesis and melena). METHOD: This is a multicenter prospective study carried out in the Endoscopy Units of eight hospitals. At the time of the emergency endoscopy, the following data were collected: age, sex, endoscopic diagnosis, solar hour of the first hematemesis (vomiting of bright red or tarry black material) and of the first melena (black or bloody soft stools), and any drugs taken during the week before the bleeding episode, regardless of the dose. RESULTS: 806 patients were studied. Bleeding was from peptic ulcer in 405 patients (50%), from esophageal varices in 197 (24%), and from other sources in the remainder. Analysis using single cosinor statistics showed a nonrandom distribution in bleeding from peptic ulcer, whether presenting first with hematemesis (p = 0.02) or melena (p = 0.03). There were two peaks at 6:45 AM and 6:45 PM for hematemesis and at 7:25 AM and 7:25 PM for melena, representing a biphasic diurnal (ultradian) rhythm. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that bleeding due to peptic ulcer has a biphasic diurnal periodicity. This has potential importance for the pathogenesis of bleeding, for the management of gastrointestinal hemorrhage and the administration of drugs known to cause peptic ulcer bleeding.

Adolescent

Clinical significance of gastric dysplasia: a multicenter follow-up study. Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Pathology Study Group.

The evolution of gastric moderate and severe dysplasia was examined in a prospective multicenter study. One-hundred-and-nine of 141 patients with the endoscopic-bioptic diagnosis of moderate or severe dysplasia had an adequate follow-up and were included into the study. After revision of the initial slides by a gastrointestinal pathologist, 57 patients whose lesions did not meet the histological criteria for dysplasia were excluded, being reclassified as hyperplastic or metaplastic lesions (group 2). The 52 patients with confirmed moderate or severe dysplasia (group 1) were followed up for at least six months or underwent surgery for confirmed dysplasia or cancer. Thirty-two cancers were found in group 1 (33% in patients with moderate and 81% in patients with severe dysplasia). Among them, about half (n = 17) were early gastric cancers. Neither severe dysplasia nor cancer were found during the follow-up in group 2. Mean follow-up time was 13 months in group 1 and 16 months in group 2. Our results indicate that: 1) Confirmed moderate dysplasia shows a high risk of cancer development and requires strict bioptic follow-up; 2) Surgery is indicated in confirmed severe gastric dysplasia seen in the early detection of gastric cancer.

Adult

Circadian periodicity and other clinical features of biliary pain.

We studied the time of onset and other clinical features of biliary pain in 54 patients living in Northern Italy. All patients had cholelithiasis documented by ultrasonography. The time of onset of pain followed a circadian periodicity with its peak occurring at 9:30 p.m. The typical biliary pain was steady, mostly localized in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen or the epigastrium, lasted over 1 h, and required analgesics for relief. The pain was not related to meals or body position. What precipitates biliary pain is still an enigma.

Cholelithiasis

Invasive candidiasis does not complicate short-term cimetidine treatment of duodenal ulcer.

The purpose of this study was to record the frequency of invasive candidiasis of duodenal ulcer and to determine whether or not it is enhanced by cimetidine treatment. Our multicenter prospective trial involved 99 patients with endoscopically proven duodenal ulcer who were undergoing a 4- or 8-week cimetidine (800 mg/day) treatment program. At the endoscopic examination, performed before and after the 4- or 8-week treatment, three biopsy samples were taken from the ulcer edge or from the healed tissue. Ulcer infiltration by Candida was presumed by the presence of mycetes in stained tissue samples. Healing rate was 76% at 4 weeks and 89.9% at 8 weeks. Candida infiltration was not seen in any biopsy specimen. Short-term treatment with cimetidine does not promote invasion of mycetes into the duodenal ulcer lesion.

Adult

The influence of cimetidine and ranitidine on the plasma lipid pattern.

The influence of H2-receptor antagonist drugs on the plasma lipid pattern has been studied prospectively in 51 patients treated with cimetidine (26 patients) or ranitidine (25 patients) for gastroenterological diseases. Total and HDL cholesterol and total triglycerides have been measured. Ranitidine did not influence the investigated parameters, while cimetidine produced a significant increase in the HDL cholesterol serum concentration (P = 0.008).

Adult

A prospective study of relationships between benign gastric ulcer, Candida, and medical treatment.

Results of a multicenter prospective study on the relationships between benign gastric ulcer, Candida, and medical treatment is reported. In a group of 66 patients, mycetes were seen in six cases (9.1%). Candida-contaminated ulcers were diagnosed solely by histological examination, with periodic acid-Schiff staining being more effective than hematoxylin and eosin staining. All contaminated ulcers were healed by treatment either with cimetidine alone, or combined cimetidine-carbenoxolone, without antimycotics. No cases of Candida-contaminated ulcers were seen after 6 wk of treatment. The finding of contamination was more common in older patients. Under the conditions of our study, Candida-contamination of benign gastric ulcers does not affect the rate of healing, does not need specific treatment, and has no particular endoscopic features. Cimetidine or carbenoxolone treatment was not associated with persistence of the fungus.

Age Factors

[ Pathology of the colon associated with diverticulosis of the descending colon and the sigmoid. Instrumental clinical study ].

A retrospective survey was carried out on 87 patients with diverticulosis and 223 control subjects with a view to studying the incidence of colon pathology in association with diverticulosis of the colon. All subjects were given colonoscopies of the distal section of the colon. The survey revealed that the group of diverticulosis patients was, on average, older than the control group (72 v. 59 years). There was no significant difference in the performance or totality of the endoscopic examination. Subjective and objective symptomatology revealed no a priori evidence of pathology associated with diverticulosis. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of polyps, neoplasias, haemorrhoids or colon melanosis in the two groups.

Aged