Search results for "phage"
showing 10 items of 1573 documents
Macrophage Activation Syndrome in Patients Affected by Adult-onset Still Disease: Analysis of Survival Rates and Predictive Factors in the Gruppo Ita…
2018
Objective.Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) is a reactive form of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, which can complicate adult-onset Still disease (AOSD). We investigated AOSD clinical features at the time of diagnosis, to assess predictors of MAS occurrence. Further, we analyzed the outcomes of patients with AOSD who experience MAS.Methods.Patients with AOSD admitted to any Gruppo Italiano di Ricerca in Reumatologia Clinica e Sperimentale center were retrospectively analyzed for features typical of AOSD, MAS occurrence, and their survival rate.Results.Of 119 patients with AOSD, 17 experienced MAS (12 at admission and 5 during followup). Twelve patients with MAS at first admission diff…
Prognostic factors of macrophage activation syndrome, at the time of diagnosis, in adult patients affected by autoimmune disease: Analysis of 41 case…
2016
Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) is a rare, life-threatening disease in which early diagnosis and aggressive therapeutic strategy may improve the outcome. Due to its rarity, epidemiologic data are still lacking. Hyperferritinemia is frequently associated with MAS and might modulate the cytokine storm, which is involved in the development of multiple organ failure. In this paper, we investigated clinical data, treatments, and outcome of a homogeneous cohort of 41 adult MAS patients, complicating autoimmune rheumatic diseases. MAS-related death occurred in 17 patients (42.5%) during the follow-up, and older age and increased serum ferritin levels, at the time of diagnosis, were significan…
Monocyte/macrophage differentiation in dermatomyositis and polymyositis.
2004
Recent advances have revealed significant differences in the pathogenesis of inflammatory myopathies. To determine whether different patterns of macrophage differentiation are a useful tool to delineate the major groups of inflammatory myopathies, the muscle biopsies of 11 patients with dermatomyositis and 12 patients with polymyositis were studied using different macrophage markers. In polymyositis, the early-activation markers MRP14 and 27E10 stained the majority of macrophages, which were recognized by the pan-macrophage marker Ki-M1P and which were located primarily in the endomysium. In dermatomyositis, macrophages predominantly expressed the late-activation marker 25F9 and were found …
Sputum metalloproteinase-9/tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 ratio correlates with airflow obstruction in asthma and chronic bronchitis
1998
Asthma and chronic bronchitis are inflammatory diseases with extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and collagen deposition. Collagen homeostasis is controlled by metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). We evaluated MMP and TIMP balance in induced sputum of 10 control, 31 untreated asthmatic, and 16 chronic bronchitic subjects. We first performed zymographic analysis to identify the profile of MMPs. Zymography revealed a similar MMPs profile in all populations studied and that MMP-9 was the major enzyme released. We then measured, using enzyme immunoassay, the concentrations of MMP-9 and of its inhibitor TIMP-1 and evaluated whether airflow limitation m…
Regulation of immunomodulatory functions by granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in vivo
1996
The present study was designed to investigate in vivo immunomodulatory properties of hematopoietic growth factors. The influence on the activation of cytokine synthesis and on the expression of surface antigens associated with cellular activation of G-CSF or GM-CSF was investigated in cancer patients receiving these factors. One single dose of growth factor was administered to patients with bladder cancer (G-CSF group) or small cell lung cancer (GM-CSF group) before chemotherapy. After cytoreductive chemotherapy patients received supportive therapy with G-CSF or GM-CSF. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells and plasma samples were obtained for flow cytometry, Northern blot analysis, and assess…
Accuracy of the water-siphon test associated to barium study in a high prevalence gastro-oesophageal reflux disease population: a novel statistical a…
2010
Abstract RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is 'a condition which develops when the reflux of gastric content causes troublesome symptoms or complications'. Instrumental diagnostic tests generally used for GORD are 24-hour pH-metry and upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy but barium study associated with provocative manoeuvres such as the water-siphon test (WST), has also been used for GORD. The aim of this paper was to estimate the accuracy of several tests in patients with GORD in a tertiary care setting, focusing on WST, which is rapid and non-invasive, simple to perform and well-tolerated by patients. METHOD: A total of 172 consecutive patients, sy…
Impact of smoking habit on adult-onset Still’s disease prognosis, findings from a multicentre observational study
2021
The objective of this study is to describe the possible prognostic impact of smoking habit on adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) patients, by the assessment of clinical characteristics, life-threatening complications occurrence, and mortality in smokers than non-smokers. A multicentre retrospective study of prospectively followed-up AOSD patients included in Gruppo Italiano di Ricerca in Reumatologia Clinica e Sperimentale (GIRRCS) cohort was conducted. Out of 185 AOSD assessed patients, 45 smokers were identified. These showed a higher frequency of pericarditis (35.5% vs 16.4%, p = 0.011), pleuritis (33.3% vs 14.3%, p = 0.008), and abdominal pain (17.7% vs 6.4%, p = 0.035). Furthermore, sm…
Paradoxical embolism through a patent foramen ovale from central venous catheter thrombosis: A potential cause of stroke
2020
Paradoxical embolism refers to a potential condition in which an embolus arising from a venous source crosses into the systemic circulation through a right-to-left cardiac shunt causing an arterial embolism. A 39-year-old woman carrier of a central venous catheter (CVC) without evident risk factors for stroke, developed an acute right homonymous hemianopia during hemodialysis. On neuroimaging, an infarct in the territory of the left posterior cerebral artery was demonstrated. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed a patent foramen ovale (PFO) and a large fluctuating thrombus in the right atrium on the tip of the CVC, thus allowing a diagnosis of ischemic stroke from paradoxical embolism.…
A comparison of transhiatal and transthoracic resections on the prognosis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus
2006
The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term prognosis for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus treated either by the transhiatal (TH) or by the transthoracic (TT) operative approach.Two hundred and twenty-nine patients (median age: 56 (29-84) years) with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus underwent esophageal resection between September 1985 and April 2004. In 70 patients, the transhiatal approach and in 159, the transthoracic approach was applied. An extended mediastinal lymph-node dissection was only carried out in the course of the transthoracic technique.Demographic data and tumor stages were comparable in both groups. A significantly better long-term survival was o…
Hypoplasia of the posterior mitral valve leaflet: Don't forget to look beyond the mitral valve.
2020
Hypoplasia of the posterior mitral valve leaflet (PMVL) is a very rare finding in adulthood and can coexist with other congenital heart defects. In this image, a transesophageal echocardiography (TOE) carried out on a 59-year-old woman with a 2-month history of dyspnea revealed a hypoplastic PMVL causing severe mitral regurgitation associated with a secundum-type atrial septal defect (ASD) with left-to-right shunting. This case demonstrates how essential 3-dimensional TOE is for a comprehensive assessment of the mitral valve and to improve the diagnostic accuracy of concomitant congenital heart abnormalities.