Objectives: The relevance of detecting antibodies against anticardiolipin, β2-glycoprotein I (β2gpI) or lupus anticoagulant (LA), collectively called antiphospholipid autoantibodies (APA), in subjects with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is still a debated issue. In particular, whether APA profile may affect the clinical course of ITP is unknown.
Methods: In this study, we report our experience in a cohort of ITP patients with APA with specific interest to the relevance of different antiphospholipid antibody profiles in clinical outcome and response to treatment.
Italy, along with Poland and Hungary, has the highest cesarean section rate (35.7%) in Europe. Among Italian regions, Campania has the highest rate of cesarean section (58.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoagulation disorders can be classified into 2 types, namely, type I and type II. In the former, there is a concomitant decrease in factor activity and antigen (activity-antigen ratio is 1), whereas in the latter, there is a discrepancy between factor activity which is always low and antigen which is normal or near normal (activity-antigen ratio is <1, eg, 0.5).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMediterr J Hematol Infect Dis
March 2017
The protective role of Sickle Cell Trait (SCT) in malaria endemic areas has been proved, and prevalence of HbS gene in malaria endemic areas is high. Splenic infarction is a well-known complication of SCT, while the association with malaria is considered rare. A Nigerian boy was admitted to our ward after returning from his country of origin, for malaria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is caused by platelet activating antibodies that recognize platelet factor 4/heparin (PF4/H) complexes. Laboratory testing plays a key role in the diagnosis of HIT. As functional assays are unfeasible for most clinical laboratories, antigen binding assays are commonly used in routine testing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeutropenia encompasses a family of neutropenic disorders, both permanent and intermittent, ranging from severe (<500 neutrophils/mm(3)) to mild (500-1500 neutrophils/mm(3)), which may also affect other organ systems such as the pancreas, central nervous system, heart, muscle and skin. Neutropenia can lead to life-threatening pyogenic infections whose severity is roughly inversely proportional to the circulating neutrophil counts.When neutropenia is detected, an attempt should be made to establish the etiology, and to distinguish acquired forms (the most frequent, including post viral neutropenia and autoimmune neutropenia) and congenital forms (rare disorders) that may be either isolated or part of a complex rare genetic disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Little is known about the physiological role and the regulation of uncoupling proteins-2 and -3 (UCP-2 and -3) in adipose tissue. We investigated whether the expression of UCP-2 and -3 in adipose tissue was affected by weight loss due to a biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) and related to the daily energy expenditure (24-h EE).
Design: Ten morbidly obese subjects (mean body mass index +/- s.