Correction of rotational deformity of the pes with external skeletal fixation in four dogs.

Objective: To report unilateral correction and initial stabilization with external skeletal fixation (ESF) of metatarsal rotation in 4 immature Bernese Mountain Dogs.

Study Design: Case series.

Animals: Bernese Mountain Dogs (n=4).

[Association of pulmonary and portal hypertension].

The association between portal venous hypertension and pulmonary arterial hypertension has received scarce attention in the italian medical literature. Nevertheless the association is relatively frequent, it needs a multidisciplinary approach and it is a stimulus for the search of causes of so-called primary pulmonary hypertension. The purpose of the article is to review the frequency of the association, the main pathogenetic hypothesis formulated to explain the appearance of pulmonary hypertension, the clinical and the laboratory findings, the evolution of the association and to present briefly a personal series of cases.

[Drug addiction and hepatitis C: does a correlation exist between the laboratory and clinical pictures?].

The prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies reaches 90% positive among intravenous drug addicts. The authors evaluate the possibility of relating laboratory findings to clinical evolution of hepatitis C. Besides, a comparison between first generation anti-HCV system ELISA and the newer RIBA detection system showed no significant difference.

[Prevalence of liver damage in alcoholics and drug addicts].

The behaviour of drug addicts and alcoholics leads to the cooperation of risk factors concerning the development of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma. The authors evaluate the prevalence of infections from B, C and Delta virus among a group of 40 intravenous drug users and 40 alcoholics affering to a territorial centre for drug dependence located in Valtellina (Italy). The prevalence of at least one serum marker of virus B, C or Delta hepatitis results to be 85% among drug addicts and 17% among alcoholics.

[A "signal averaging" analysis of the P wave in patients with a history of isolated paroxysmal atrial fibrillation].

The aim of this study was to verify the utility of the signal averaged electrocardiogram for the analysis of the P wave in patients with paroxysmal lone atrial fibrillation. We studied 22 patients with documented paroxysmal atrial fibrillation without cardiovascular or endocrine diseases. The results were compared with 24 normal subjects.