Search results for "patients"
showing 10 items of 962 documents
Usefulness of echocardiography in the assessment of internal medicine inpatients: An analysis according to ACC/AHA guidelines
1999
BACKGROUND: We aimed to analyze the importance of echocardiography in our Internal Medicine Institute. We think that this technique could have a large impact in the evaluation of the internistic inpatient who is usually affected by multiple pathological problems. METHODS: Analysis was performed according to the ACC/AHA guidelines for the application of echocardiography. The data of 1211 consecutive inpatients were analyzed. RESULTS: Sixty-three per cent of all the patients had two or more associated diseases. Moreover, patients in whom echocardiography could be considered appropriate or useful were 67%. Our results point out that echocardiographic examination is generally a technique of gre…
Comparison of RNA-seq and microarray-based models for clinical endpoint prediction
2015
Background Gene expression profiling is being widely applied in cancer research to identify biomarkers for clinical endpoint prediction. Since RNA-seq provides a powerful tool for transcriptome-based applications beyond the limitations of microarrays, we sought to systematically evaluate the performance of RNA-seq-based and microarray-based classifiers in this MAQC-III/SEQC study for clinical endpoint prediction using neuroblastoma as a model. Results We generate gene expression profiles from 498 primary neuroblastomas using both RNA-seq and 44 k microarrays. Characterization of the neuroblastoma transcriptome by RNA-seq reveals that more than 48,000 genes and 200,000 transcripts are being …
Dynamics and molecular evolution of HIV-1 strains in Sicily among antiretroviral naïve patients.
2012
Abstract HIV-1 subtype B is the most frequent strain in Sicily. To date, there is no available data about the genetic diversity of HIV-1 viral strains circulating in Sicily among antiretroviral (ARV) naive subjects and the role of immigration as potential determinant of evolutionary dynamics of HIV-1 molecular epidemiology. For this purpose, HIV-1 polymerase (pol) sequences obtained from 155 ARV naive individuals from 2004 to 2009 were phylogenetically analysed. The overall rate of HIV-1 non-B infections was 31.0% (n = 48/155), increasing from 7.8% in 2004–2006 to 40.9% in 2009, and about one-third were identified as unique recombinant forms. CRF02_AG was the prevalent non-B clade (n = 28/4…
Combined kinetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia, N-antigenemia and virus-specific antibodies in critically ill adult COVID-19 patients
2022
Combined kinetic analysis of plasma SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia, Nucleocapsid (N)-antigenemia and virus-specific antibodies may help ascertain the role of antibodies in preventing virus dissemination in COVID-19 patients. We performed this analysis in a cohort of 71 consecutive critically ill COVID-19 patients (49 male; median age, 65 years) using RT-PCR assay, lateral flow immunochromatography method and receptor binding domain (RBD) and N-based immunoassays. A total of 338 plasma specimens collected at a median of 12 days after symptoms onset were available for analyses. SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia and N-antigenemia were detected in 37 and 43 specimens from 26 (36.5%) and 30 (42.2%) patients, respectively.…
Differences and Similarities between Allergic and Nonallergic Rhinitis in a Large Sample of Adult Patients with Rhinitis Symptoms
2010
<i>Background:</i> Allergic rhinitis (AR) and nonallergic rhinitis (NAR) may present with different clinical and laboratory characteristics. <i>Methods:</i> A total of 1,511 consecutive patients, aged 18–81 years, diagnosed with rhinitis, 56% females and 44% males, underwent complete allergic evaluation including skin prick test, blood eosinophil counts, nasal eosinophil counts, peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) measurement and evaluation of nasal symptoms using a visual analog scale (VAS). <i>Results:</i> A total of 1,107 patients (73%)had AR, whereas 404 (27%) had NAR. Patients with NAR were older and predominantly female. A higher nasal eosinophils co…
Schizophrenic patients who smoke have a faster finger tapping rate than non-smokers
2002
The increased rate of smoking in schizophrenia patients remains unexplained and may reflect attempts at self-treatment. The effect sought from smoking may be related to nicotine's stimulating action. We tested this hypothesis by examining the relationship between smoking status and finger tapping rate, a measure of central processing, in schizophrenia patients treated with atypical antipsychotics. Smokers showed significantly faster finger tapping rates than non-smokers. This was not related to clinical state, illness chronicity, medication side-effects, antipsychotic dose or plasma concentrations. Nicotine can improve central processing in medicated schizophrenia patients and this may cons…
Functional pain in hospitalised and school children
2012
Aim. Aim of the study was to recognise the role of psychological disagreement in children and adolescents suffering from functional pain. Methods. Two groups of children, adolescents and their parents were interviewed: group H (hospitalized patients), group S (students, at school). Suitable investigations excluded organic lesions. The following data were analysed: 1) presence of pain in relation with: i) sex and age; ii) relation with parents, brothers, other relatives, schoolfellows; 2) efficacy of possible treatments. Results. Group H: 194 patients, median age 10 years; 134 referred pain: 62 out of 92 males and 72 out of 102 females; location of pain: abdomen, limbs, head, back. Family di…
Detection of gastric atrophy by circulating pepsinogens: A comparison of three assays.
2017
Background Circulating levels of pepsinogens have been used in high gastric cancer-risk Asian and European populations to triage endoscopic evaluation for more severe pathology. There are different analytic methods with uncertain correlations. We therefore compared diagnostic performance of three commonly used pepsinogen assays to detect histologically confirmed gastric atrophy. Methods We tested plasma samples from adult patients with (n=50) and without (n=755) moderate or severe gastric corpus atrophy, as determined histologically by consensus of three expert pathologists. A single laboratory measured pepsinogens I (PgI) and II (PgII) using commercially available assays: two ELISA assays …
Patients’ health locus of control and preferences about the role that they want to play in the medical decision-making process
2021
Health locus of control (HLOC) may influence people’s behavior regarding their health as well as their desires to be involved in the medical decision-making. Our study aimed to examine HLOC’s relations with people’s control preferences about the medical decision-making. A total of 153 people filled out the self-administered version of the Control Preference Scale and the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale–form C. The most preferred role is the collaborative one. However, HLOC explained heterogeneity in people’s control preferences: lower scores in external HLOC were related to a greater preference for the active and the collaborative role. From the personalized medicine perspect…
Psychiatric Comorbidity at the Time of Diagnosis in Adults With ADHD: The CAT Study.
2016
Objective: The CAT ( Comorbilidad en Adultos con TDAH) study aimed to quantify and characterize the psychiatric comorbidity at the time of diagnosis of ADHD in adult outpatients. Method: Cross-sectional, multicenter, observational register of adults with ADHD diagnosed for the first time. Results: In this large sample of adult ADHD ( n = 367), psychiatric comorbidities were present in 66.2% of the sample, and were more prevalent in males and in the hyperactive-impulsive and combined subtypes. The most common comorbidities were substance use disorders (39.2%), anxiety disorders (23%), and mood disorders (18.1%). In all, 88.8% patients were prescribed pharmacological treatment for ADHD (in 9…