Search results for "46"
showing 10 items of 1176 documents
The minimally invasive supraorbital subfrontal key-hole approach for surgical treatment of temporomesial lesions of the dominant hemisphere
2009
INTRODUCTION: Surgery in the temporomesial region is generally performed using a subtemporal, transtemporal, or pterional-transsylvian approach. However, these approaches may lead to approach-related trauma of the temporal lobe and frontotemporal operculum with subsequent postoperative neurological deficits. Iatrogenic traumatisation is especially significant if surgery is performed in the dominant hemisphere. METHODS: During a five-year period between January 2003 and December 2007, we have approached the temporomesial region in 21 cases via the supraorbital approach. In 15 cases, the lesion was located within the dominant hemisphere, all lesions had space-occupying effects. In all cases, …
Automated segmentation of changes in FLAIR-hyperintense white matter lesions in multiple sclerosis on serial magnetic resonance imaging
2019
Longitudinal analysis of white matter lesion changes on serial MRI has become an important parameter to study diseases with white-matter lesions. Here, we build on earlier work on cross-sectional lesion segmentation; we present a fully automatic pipeline for serial analysis of FLAIR-hyperintense white matter lesions. Our algorithm requires three-dimensional gradient echo T1- and FLAIR- weighted images at 3 Tesla as well as available cross-sectional lesion segmentations of both time points. Preprocessing steps include lesion filling and intrasubject registration. For segmentation of lesion changes, initial lesion maps of different time points are fused; herein changes in intensity are analyz…
Airway epithelial dysfunction and mesenchymal transition in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Role of Oct-4
2021
Abstract The airway epithelium is a dynamic tissue that undergoes slow but constant renewal. Dysregulation of airway epithelial function related to cigarette smoke exposure plays an important role in the pathophysiology of COPD. Oct4 is a transcription factor responsible for maintaining cellular self-renewal and regeneration, and CD146 and CD105/Endoglin are adhesion molecules involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, epithelial-mesenchymal-transition and tissue remodeling. Bronchial biopsy specimens (BBs) were obtained from 7 healthy controls (HC) and 10 COPD and subjected to paraffin embedding; BBs from HC were also used for epithelial cell expansion and pHBEC/ALI (air-liquid inter…
Stromal SPARC contributes to the detrimental fibrotic changes associated with myeloproliferation whereas its deficiency favors myeloid cell expansion.
2012
Abstract In myeloid malignancies, the neoplastic clone outgrows normal hematopoietic cells toward BM failure. This event is also sustained by detrimental stromal changes, such as BM fibrosis and osteosclerosis, whose occurrence is harbinger of a dismal prognosis. We show that the matricellular protein SPARC contributes to the BM stromal response to myeloproliferation. The degree of SPARC expression in BM stromal elements, including CD146+ mesenchymal stromal cells, correlates with the degree of stromal changes, and the severity of BM failure characterizing the prototypical myeloproliferative neoplasm primary myelofibrosis. Using Sparc−/− mice and BM chimeras, we demonstrate that SPARC contr…
Familial hypobetalipoproteinemia due to apolipoprotein B R463W mutation causes intestinal fat accumulation and low postprandial lipemia
2008
Abstract Objective Familial hypobetalipoproteinemia (FHBL) is characterized by inherited low plasma levels of apolipoprotein B (apoB)-containing lipoproteins. In this paper we investigated whether the already described APOB R463W missense mutation, a FHBL mutation able to impair the activity of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP), may cause intestinal fat accumulation and reduced postprandial lipemia. Methods Four out of five probands harboring APOB R463W mutation were compared with six healthy controls and six patients with celiac disease (CD). An oral fat load supplemented with retinyl palmitate (RP) was administered and a gastro-duodenal endoscopy with biopsy was performed. Re…
Association between multiple sclerosis, cancer risk, and immunosuppressant treatment: a cohort study
2017
Abstract Background The association between multiple sclerosis (MS) and cancer has long been investigated with conflicting results. Several reports suggest an increased cancer risk among MS patients treated with immunosuppressant (IS) drugs. Methods We performed a cohort study including MS patients recruited at the Neurological Department of the University of Palermo. Mean follow-up period was ten years for the whole cohort. We calculated cancer incidence among patients treated with IS. Incidence rates were compared in the cohort by calculating the relative risk according to length and dose of exposure to IS. Cancer incidence among MS patients was compared to cancer incidence in the general…
Urological dysfunctions in patients with Parkinson’s disease: clues from clinical and non-invasive urological assessment
2018
Abstract Background Autonomic nervous system dysfunction, common in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), causes significant morbidity and it is correlated with poor quality of life. To assess frequency of urinary symptoms in patients with PD, without conditions known to interfere with urinary function. Methods Non-demented PD patients were consecutively enrolled from the outpatients clinic of our department. Scales investigating motor and non-motor symptoms were carried out. Evaluation of urinary dysfunctions was carried out using the AUTonomic Scale for Outcomes in Parkinson’s disease (SCOPA-AUT) questionnaire. Patients underwent noninvasive urological studies (nUS), including uroflowme…
Mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells in acute cardiovascular events in the PROCELL study: Time-course after acute myocardial infarction and s…
2015
The mobilization pattern and functionality of endothelial progenitor cells after an acute ischemic event remain largely unknown. The aim of our study was to characterize and compare the short- and long-term mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells and circulating endothelial cells after acute myocardial infarction or atherothrombotic stroke, and to determine the relationship between these cell counts and plasma concentrations of vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1) and Von Willebrand factor (VWF) as surrogate markers of endothelial damage and inflammation. In addition, we assessed whether endothelial progenitor cells behave like functional endothelial cells. We included 150 patients…
Influence of different types of astigmatism on visual acuity
2016
[EN] Purpose To investigate the change in visual acuity (VA) produced by different types of astigmatism (on the basis of the refractive power and position of the principal meridians) on normal accommodating eyes. Methods The lens induced method was employed to simulate a set of 28 astigmatic blur conditions on different healthy emmetropic eyes. Additionally, 24 values of spherical defocus were also simulated on the same eyes for comparison. VA was measured in each case and the results, expressed in logMAR units, were represented against of the modulus of the dioptric power vector (blur strength). Results LogMAR VA varies in a linear fashion with increasing astigmatic blur, being the slope o…
CD146+ bone marrow osteoprogenitors increase in the advanced stages of primary myelofibrosis
2008
Abstract CD146+ bone marrow stromal cells have been recently recognized as clonogenic osteoprogenitors able to organize a complete hematopoietic microenvironment. In this study we used immunohistochemical analysis to investigate the contribution of CD146+ bone marrow osteoprogenitors to the stromal remodeling occurring in the different stages of primary myelofibrosis. We found that CD146+ cells sited at the abluminal side of the bone marrow vessels and branching among hematopoietic cells significantly increased in the advanced stages of primary myelofibrosis (p<0.001), paralleling the extent of fibrosis (r=0.916, p<0.0001) and the microvascular density (r=0.883, p<0.0001). Coherently with a…