Search results for " Humans"
showing 10 items of 2466 documents
A functional study of the esophagus in patients with non-cardiac chest pain and dysphagia.
2015
Background/Aims: Nutcracker esophagus and non-specific motility disorders are the main causes of non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP), with gastroesophageal reflux in 60% of cases. Achalasia and diffuse esophageal spasm are the most frequent anomalies described in patients with dysphagia. The goal of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of esophageal body and lower esophageal sphincter motor abnormalities in patients with dysphagia, NCCP, or both. Materials and Methods: This study is a retrospective analysis of 716 patients with NCCP and/or dysphagia tested between January 1994 and December 2010. 1023 functional studies were performed, 707 of which were esophageal manometries, 225 esophageal …
A Phase 3 Trial of Sebelipase Alfa in Lysosomal Acid Lipase Deficiency
2015
BackgroundLysosomal acid lipase is an essential lipid-metabolizing enzyme that breaks down endocytosed lipid particles and regulates lipid metabolism. We conducted a phase 3 trial of enzyme-replacement therapy in children and adults with lysosomal acid lipase deficiency, an underappreciated cause of cirrhosis and severe dyslipidemia. MethodsIn this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving 66 patients, we evaluated the safety and effectiveness of enzyme-replacement therapy with sebelipase alfa (administered intravenously at a dose of 1 mg per kilogram of body weight every other week); the placebo-controlled phase of the study was 20 weeks long and was followe…
Clonal populations of hematopoietic cells with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria phenotype in patients with splanchnic vein thrombosis
2014
Abstract Introduction Splanchnic vein thrombosis (SVT) is a serious complication in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). Mutant PNH clones can be associated with an increased risk of SVT even in the absence of overt disease, but their prevalence in non-selected SVT patients remains unknown. Materials and Methods Patients with objective diagnosis of SVT and without known PNH were tested for the presence of PNH clone using high-sensitivity flow cytometric analysis. Results A total of 202 SVT patients were eligible, 58.4% were males, mean age was 54.6 years (range 17–94), site of thrombosis was portal in 103 patients, mesenteric in 67, splenic in 37, and supra-hepatic in 10…
Impact of Tips Preliver Transplantation for the Outcome Posttransplantation
2008
The effects of transjugular intrahepatic portocaval shunt (TIPS) on the survival of grafts and patients after liver transplantation (LTx) have only been documented in small series and with only a comparative description with non-TIPS recipients. We evaluated 61 TIPS patients who had a subsequent LTx and compared these with 591 patients transplanted with cirrhosis without TIPS. Pretransplant characteristics were similar between groups. Graft survival at 1, 3 and 5 years post-LTx was 85.2%, 77% and 72.1% (TIPS) and 75.3%, 69.8% and 66.1% (controls). Patient survival at the same points was 91.7%, 85% and 81.7%, respectively (TIPS) and 85.4%, 80.3% and 76.2% (controls). Cox regression showed th…
Representation of time intervals in the right posterior parietal cortex: implications for a mental time line
2009
Space and time interact with each other in the cognitive system. Recent studies indicate the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) as the neural correlate of spatial-temporal interactions. We studied whether the contribution of the PPC becomes critical in tasks requiring the performance of spatial computations on time intervals. We adopted an integrated neuropsychological and transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) approach, presenting behavioural timing tasks to both healthy subjects and right-brain-damaged patients with and without evidence of spatial neglect. rTMS of the right PPC of healthy subjects induced a lateralised bias during a task requiring setting the midpoint of a time interval. T…
Perceiving numbers alters time perception.
2008
The representation of time, space and numbers are strictly linked in the primate's cognitive system. Here we show that merely looking at number symbols biases a temporal judgment on their duration depending upon the number's magnitude. In a first experiment, a group of healthy subjects was submitted to a time estimation task, requiring to judge whether the duration of a test stimulus was longer or shorter than that of a previous reference fixed stimulus (digit 5; duration 300 ms). Test stimuli were the digits 1, 5 and 9 ranging between 250 and 350 ms. The main results showed that temporal perception was biased according to the magnitude expressed by the digit: low digits (i.e. 1) leading to…
Optimizing patient referral and center capacity in the management of chronic hepatitis C: Lessons from the Italian experience
2019
Abstract Aims In 2017 the Italian Drug Agency (Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco, AIFA) revised the criteria for access to therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis C as part of a three-year plan to eradicate HCV. We conducted a Delphi study to determine strategies to identify and treat patients with HCV and to develop through a shared pathway, a model to manage patient referral and optimize prescription center capacity with the overall aim of increasing access to therapy. Methods The process took place in two phases – Phase I (January 2017), before the criteria for treatment of HCV were revised and Phase II (May 2017) when AIFA developed a framework for the eradication of HCV infection in Ita…
Perceptual Pseudoneglect in Schizophrenia: Candidate Endophenotype and the Role of the Right Parietal Cortex
2013
Several contributions have reported an altered expression of pseudoneglect in psychiatric disorders, highlighting the existence of an anomalous brain lateralization in affected subjects. Surprisingly, no studies have yet investigated pseudoneglect in first-degree relatives (FdR) of psychiatric patients. We investigated performance on “paper and pencil” line bisection (LB) tasks in 68 schizophrenic patients (SCZ), 42 unaffected FdR, 41 unipolar depressive patients (UP), and 103 healthy subjects (HS). A subgroup of 20 SCZ and 16 HS underwent computerized LB and mental number line bisection (MNL) tasks requiring judgment of prebisected lines and numerical intervals. Moreover, we evaluated, in …
Infliximab in the treatment of Crohn's disease: Predictors of response in an Italian multicentric open study
2005
Abstract Background. Almost 20% of patients with active Crohn's disease are refractory to conventional therapy. Infliximab is a treatment of proven efficacy in this group of patients and it is not clear which variables predict a good response. Aims. To evaluate the role of infliximab looking at the predictors of response in a large series of patients with Crohn's disease. Patients and methods. Five hundred and seventy-three patients with luminal refractory Crohn's disease (Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) > 220–400) (312 patients) or with fistulising disease (190 patients) or both of them (71 patients) were treated with a dose of 5 mg/kg in 12 Italian referral centres. The primary endp…
Versatility of the Free Anterolateral Thigh Flap in the Reconstruction of Large Defects of the Weight-Bearing Foot: A Single-Center Experience with 2…
2016
Background Reconstruction of the weight-bearing surface of the foot represents a challenging task. With very little scope to borrow glabrous tissue from adjacent areas means that achieving a “like for like” reconstruction is rarely possible. In this setting, alternative approaches need to be considered. In this article we present our experience with various differing designs of the anterolateral thigh flap (ALT) in the reconstruction of 20 large defects of the weight-bearing sole. Methods Twenty patients with complex soft tissue defects of the weight-bearing sole underwent reconstruction over a 5-year period. Five cases were complicated by osteomyelitis resulting in significant calcaneal …