Valter Fasano

University of Milan | UNIMI · Department of Medical Sciences

It is well-known that many patients with asthma undergo clinical improvement during a stay at high altitude. At high altitude, the atmospheric and climatic conditions (such as hypoxia, cold and dry air inhalation) could modify the bronchial responsiveness in asthmatics. Our study was designed to assess the dif- ference in bronchial responsiveness t...

sRaw (specific airway resistance) is a corrected index (Raw multiplied by thoracic gas volume) that describes airway behaviour regardless of lung volume. Normal values of sRaw in adult subjects have never been formally defined. To establish sRaw interpretation criteria and to define a range of reference values, we evaluated variability, reproducibi...

The relationship between work rate (WR) and its tolerable duration (t(LIM)) has not been investigated at high altitude (HA). At HA (5050 m) and at sea level (SL), six subjects therefore performed symptom-limited cycle-ergometry: an incremental test (IET) and three constant-WR tests (% of IET WR(max), HA and SL respectively: WR(1) 70±8%, 74±7%; WR(2...

Unlabelled: The oxygen saturation values reported in the high altitude literature are usually taken during a few minutes of measurement either at rest or during exercise. We aimed to investigate the daily hypoxic profile by monitoring oxygen saturation for 24 h in 8 lowlanders (4 females, ages 26 to 59) during trekking from Lukla (2850 m) to the P...

The present article refers to a simple rapid non-invasive technique: the so called forced oscillation technique (FOT) directed to calculate the impedance of the thoraco-pulmonary system in different physiological and pathological conditions. Operational principles: the subject breaths in the air through a pneumotachograph connected to a generator o...

We tested the hypothesis that the individual ventilatory adaptation to high altitude (HA, 5050 m) may influence renal water excretion in response to water loading. In 8 healthy humans (33+/-4 S.D. years) we studied, at sea level (SL) and at HA, resting ventilation (VE), arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2), urinary output after water loading (WL, 20 m...

The lungs play a pivotal role in adaptation to high altitude. The increase in ventilation and the rise in pulmonary artery pressure are the first features of lung response to hypoxic exposure. At high altitude the lungs can also be affected by high-altitude pulmonary oedema, a severe form of acute mountain sickness. In healthy subjects the ascent t...

The incidence of tuberculosis has progressively decreased in developed countries after the advent of antituberculous chemotherapy, but has recently been increasing again mainly due to migratory flows. Although common in the past and considered to be a prelethal event, laryngeal involvement has become a rarity. We report the case of a 52-year-old fe...

It was the aim of the study to assess the maximal pressure generated by the inspiratory muscles (MIP) during exposure to different levels of altitude (i.e., hypobaric hypoxia). Eight lowlanders (2 females and 6 males), aged 27 - 46 years, participated in the study. After being evaluated at sea level, the subjects spent seven days at altitudes of mo...

Hemoptysis is a term indicating oral emission of blood coming from respiratory sub-glottic airways, independently from its volume. Blood that enters airspaces can derive from every anatomical site of pulmonary or systemic vascular bed located in contact with components of bronchopulmonary apparatus. All diseases directly or indirectly affecting thi...

The aim of this prospective study was to verify whether vocal fold fat augmentation (VFFA) modifies upper airway patency. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study analyzing the impact of VFFA on laryngeal resistance to airflow. Twenty-one consecutive patients 16 to 74 years of age underwent 24 VFFA operations because of glottic incompe...

Patients with beta-thalassemia often present with a restrictive pattern at pulmonary function tests (PFTs) due to several pathogenetic factors. However, the long-term evolution is unknown. We performed a longitudinal study of pulmonary function in asymptomatic, non-smoking patients with beta-thalassemia major and intermedia. We looked for temporal...

Hyaluronan (HA), a biopolymerized glycosaminoglicane (GAG), is a major component of the connective amorphous matrix. Lung, skin and intestine contain >50% of the entire body HA, providing several matrix functions thank also to the capacity of the HA molecule of linking a particularly relevant number of water molecules. It has been shown that intrat...

Cough is a complex respiratory manoeuvre generally aimed to sustain a defensive role. Its ethiopathogenesis is eterogeneous. In acute forms the ethiological diagnosis, necessary for a correct and useful treatment, is generally made on the basis of precise case history and careful physical examination. In the chronic forms it's always suggested to p...

This study was designed to analyze whether respiratory flows and specific airway resistance (sRaw) depend on the degree of breathiness and on the position of the paralyzed vocal fold in laryngeal hemiplegia. We performed a prospective study involving 55 patients affected by laryngeal hemiplegia. The paralyzed fold was in an intermediate position in...

Laryngeal hemiplegia (LH) is the most common disorder of laryngeal motility. It is deemed not to cause obstruction of the upper airway; in fact, the main symptoms are dysphonia and breathiness, and respiratory impairment is not commonly reported. The aim of this study was to objectively assess upper airway patency in 41 patients affected by LH (mea...

Thirtyfour subjects affected by chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) all of whom with a PaO2>60 mm Hg, have been studied along a 42 month period. At the enrollment 19/34 (55.8%) presented nocturnal desaturations (NOD). A stable hypoxemia (PaO2<55 mmHg) developed in 10/34 (29.4%), who were treated with LTOT: 9/10 had NOD. The patients in LTOT sho...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients with laryngeal hemiplegia (LH) show a frequency-dependent increase in specific airway resistance (s R aw ), measured by body plethysmography. In addition to the flow-volume loop, usually considered in the functional evaluation of upper airway obstructions, variations in s R aw at respiratory...

The new personal portable sampler for detection of environmental biologic particles (Partrap FA52, Coppa, Biella, Italy) was used to evaluate both atmospheric and indoor biologic particles in bedding at high altitudes during two Italian scientific expeditions in Nepal, in 1994 and 1996 respectively. The sampling was performed outdoors and indoors a...