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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was threefold: to evaluate the role of gallium-67 scintigraphy in the staging of low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (LGNHL), to assess the relationship between the expression of CD71 on the surface of the neoplastic cells and the 67Ga uptake by the tumour, and to establish the contribution of 67Ga scan in defining the prognosis of LGNHL. Forty-eight patients with untreated LGNHL diagnosed in a single institution over a decade were reviewed. The end point of the study was survival of the patients according to the scintigraphic 67Ga score at diagnosis. In addition to 67Ga scan, other prognostic variables were studied, relating to the neoplastic burden, the biology of the tumour and the host. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used. 67Ga scan identified only 116/286 (41%) nodes involved by lymphoma that were detected by clinical examination or computed tomography scan. A scintigraphic scoring system with an arbitrary cut-off value of 3 (high scan score) was able to predict patients with a dismal prognosis: with a mean follow-up of 47 months (range: 1-146 months) the median survival time was 28 months in patients with a high scan score and 74 months in patients with a low scan score (P=0.002). CD71 values were 27. 4%+/-14.9% (mean +/-SD) in the former and 8.9%+/-7.2% in the latter (P=0.0001). Only performance status and extranodal sites were significant variables for prognosis in multivariate analysis. It is concluded that 67Ga scan is inaccurate in staging but might be very important in defining the prognosis in LGNHL, in association with other prognostic variables.
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine 01/1998; 24(12):1499-506.
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ABSTRACT: The carcinoid of Meckel's diverticulum is a very rare lesion, and about 100 cases in the literature have been described. Most of these tumors are casually find out at autopsy or laparoscopy for other pathology. Seldom was described a sintomatology correlated to carcinoid of Meckel's diverticulum presence, except the rare case where was formed a carcinoid syndrome. Authors present a clinical case where was casually found by a carcinoid of Meckel's diverticulum during an appendicectomy. The intention is to underline the importance of research the Meckel's diverticulum every time, and in particular in case of young subjects, remove it and perform an histological valuation, to exclude the presence of a carcinoid that could give metastases to local lymph-nodes or liver.
Minerva chirurgica 06/1995; 50(5):501-4. · 0.77 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: A case of enteropathy associated T-cell lymphoma (EATCL) in a 62-year-old female with a previous history of coeliac disease, complicated during the clinical course by massive blood and tissue eosinophilia is described. The patient's serum contained a factor capable of stimulating the in vitro growth of eosinophilic colonies (CFU-Eo), that was absent in the serum of normal donors. We suggest that such factor was Interleukin-5 (IL-5), as indicated by the presence in the monoclonal tumor T cells of IL-5 encoding mRNA, usually absent in the normal enterocytes of the jejunum.
Leukemia and Lymphoma 04/1995; 17(1-2):155-61. · 2.58 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The Authors analyze the results of 83 cases of TPN in a surgical department after a revision of the literature from which it comes out how such a method has been proposed to reduce the catabolism by surgical trauma of fasting, especially after greater surgical operations.
Minerva chirurgica 06/1991; 46(9):455-7. · 0.77 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The Authors introduce their experience of primary and secondary surgical treatment of hyperparathyroidism, pointing out at first the good confidence of echography, scintigraphy and TAC, in the pre-operating diagnostic of the parathyroid glands localization and then the satisfactory clinical results with a follow-up which, up to date, has not shown any relapse.
Minerva chirurgica 06/1991; 46(9):447-9. · 0.77 Impact Factor
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European Journal Of Haematology 06/1990; 44(5):317-8. · 2.61 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Following a short review of the various types of possible abnormalities in the popliteal artery entrapment syndrome, a case is presented which was misdiagnosed for more than 2 years. Problems concerning the differential diagnosis are discussed together with details of the surgical approach performed using the medial incision and the PTFE prosthesis.
Minerva chirurgica 06/1989; 44(9):1423-8. · 0.77 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The paper describes the Authors' personal experience of the use of the rendez-vous technique (using a combined endoscopic-transhepatic route) for the endoscopic insertion of biliary prosthesis in cases of malignant obstructive jaundice. Having illustrated the series of cases, the paper proposes the use of this technique in the event of endoscopic failure due to the smaller incidence of complications compared the use of a wholly transhepatic route.
Minerva gastroenterologica e dietologica 37(3):151-5.
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ABSTRACT: An effective second-line treatment for intermediate and high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is greatly needed since 30% of patients do not achieved complete remission (CR) and another 20% to 30% of the CRs will eventually relapse.
A four-drug combination with Mitoxantrone, Etoposide, Cisplatin and Dexamethasone (MEPD) was devised for the treatment of patients with relapsing or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). So far 22 patients with intermediate or high grade NHL have entered the study. All patients were previously treated with doxorubicin based regimens.
Seven patients obtained a complete remission (CR), 3 a partial remission (PR), 4 a minor response (MR) and 8 were treatment failures (F). Thus, an overall response rate of 45% has been achieved. To date three of the complete responders have relapsed at 3, 6 and 15 months. Four patients are still in CR at +2, +4, +9 and +17 months, respectively. Patients with relapsing lymphoma responded better than those with primary refractory disease. Myelosuppression was the most frequent side effect, nevertheless there were no severe infections.
These preliminary results suggest the effectiveness of MEPD as salvage chemotherapy in resistant NHL and warrant further clinical studies.
Haematologica 76(1):43-6. · 6.42 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The addition of acarbose to insulin treatment was evaluated in 14 Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients assessed conventionally (blood glucose profile and HbA1c measurement) and with an artificial B-cell. Their metabolic control was poor, fasting blood glucose 10.7 +/- 0.3 (+/- SE) mmol l-1, mean daily blood glucose 9.7 +/- 0.3 mmol l-1, and HbA1c 9.6 +/- 0.2% (normal range 5.0-6.1%). They were of normal body weight (body mass index 22.5 +/- 0.3 kg m-2), and were C-peptide deficient (fasting 0.08 +/- 0.02 nmol l-1). In addition to their usual insulin therapy (46.9 +/- 3.5 U day-1 in three pre-meal injections), they received 100 mg acarbose or placebo three times a day for 6 weeks in a randomized double-blind crossover design. On the last day of either acarbose or placebo treatment, the usual insulin therapy was discontinued and an artificial B-cell was used for insulin delivery, programmed for euglycaemia. Placebo or acarbose was continued before meals. Acarbose reduced mean daily blood glucose concentrations (8.5 +/- 0.3 vs 9.7 +/- 0.3 mmol l-1, p = 0.002) and HbA1c levels (8.3 +/- 0.1 vs 9.6 +/- 0.2%, p less than 0.001). A significant reduction in insulin requirement after meals was found with the artificial B-cell, 25.1 +/- 2.5 (first treatment acarbose) and 24.1 +/- 2.9 U (first treatment placebo) with acarbose and 40.0 +/- 2.5 and 35.6 +/- 2.9 U with placebo (p less than 0.001). These results suggest that acarbose could usefully be administered to Type 1 diabetic patients to ameliorate glucose control and reduce insulin requirement.
Diabetic Medicine 8(7):674-8. · 2.90 Impact Factor