[Linear bone densitometry by monochromatic photon absorptiometry. A study of a normal population in Apulia].

An epidemiological survey was conducted on a group of Apulian residents in order to compare the densitometric data obtained with those produced by other European and North American authors. The results confirm the need for personal data on our own population given the often significant differences in order to avoid errors in monitoring patients who may require even long-term treatment.

[Epidemiology of osteoporosis in Apulia. A retrospective study on the prevalence of fractures of the wrist and femur in the population of the region].

A study of femur and wrist fracture prevalence in a large population of Apulia was carried out. These kinds of fractures are closely related to osteoporosis in post-menopausal women and in the elderly, suggesting that a survey of their prevalence in the population could demonstrate the prevalence of osteoporosis itself. In this study a high prevalence of total fractures in young men was demonstrated.

Early alteration of synovial membrane in osteoarthrosis.

Biopsy specimens of the synovial membrane were obtained during arthroscopy and surgical meniscectomy from the knees of 20 patients with meniscus lesions. The aim of this study was to identify the morphological and immunological changes which appear in the synovium during the earliest phase of osteoarthrosis. Interstitial deposits of IgG and, in some cases, C3 were found not only in patients with evident arthrotic degeneration (cartilaginous lesions and synovitis), but also in patients who showed no overt arthrotic changes.

Evaluation of mineral metabolism and bone turnover in osteoporotic females treated with phosphorus and salmon calcitonin.

Twenty-five patients with radiological and clinical evidence of osteoporosis were studied. Nineteen patients received oral phosphorus at a dose of 1,000 mg/die for 10 days followed by salmon calcitonin (100 U MRC/die) for 20 days. Six patients received only oral calcium at a dose of 1,000 mg/die).

[Tetracycline in the evaluation of bone turnover].

A new and easy technique for the fluorimetric evaluation of rolitetracycline calcium complex was studied. The study was carried out in 3 different groups of rats; an increase in power of fluorescence in the rats on a low calcium diet (LC) and on a low calcium diet plus vitamin D (LC + D) versus the group of rats on a normal calcium diet (NC) was found. Moreover, the amount of spongy bone showed a significant decrease in bone mass in the first two groups (LC and LC + D) versus control.

[Changes in urinary serotonin in subjects treated with calcitonin].

In a first stage, the authors have evaluated the relationship between plasma calcitonin and urinary serotonin in patients presenting a chronic pathology, mostly of respiratory nature. The results have demonstrated that plasma calcitonin and urinary elimination of serotonin were increased (p less than 0.05) in patients presenting a chronic pathology, compared to 16 healthy patients of the same age and sex.

25-Hydroxycholecalciferol in experimental osteoporosis.

Unlabelled: The authors, using the experimental pattern of bone rarefaction induced by a low calcium diet, tried to determine if 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, administered at doses and according to procedures similar to those used in osteoporosis, might interfere in such a process of rarefaction. The statistical evaluation of the results concerning the size of the amount of spongy bone presented evidence for the sharp decrease in the specific bone volume in rats placed on a low calcium diet as compared to control rats. Such a difference is found even between rats treated with 25-OH-D3.

[Evaluation of the effects of anabolic steroids, calcitonin and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol on the spongy bone of rats].

Prevention of the experimental bone rarefaction which occurs in rats put on a low calcium diet was attempted by using salmon calcitonin and 25 hydroxyvitamin D given with a similar regimen to that used in human disease. Results were compared with the previously reported effects of synthetic anabolic steroids. Statistical analysis was carried out on measurements of cancellous bone mass.

[Polymyalgia rheumatica: a systemic vasculitis. Review of the literature and presentation of 2 clinical cases].

A brief historical account of the nosological and pathogenetic classification of rheumatic polymyalgia (RPM) is followed by an indication of the importance of vasculitis during its course. Elective involvement of the temporal artery is not always observed, though there may also, or exclusively, be involvement of other arterial districts, such as those of the subaxillary and subclavicular, that of the thoracic and abdominal aorta, and of the large branches of the lower limbs. Two clinical cases are presented in support of these assertions.

[Variations in the ratio of total calcium to plasma calcium ions in chronic liver diseases].

Total Ca and Ca++ were evaluated with a Perkin Elmer 305 atomic absorption spectrophotometer and a specific Orion 93-20 electrode respectively in 29 cirrhotics and 76 non-cirrhotics. Stress is laid on the reliability of the Orion electrode. Mean C++ was 52.

[A case of chondrodysplasia. Dolichomelic spondylo-epiphyseal chondrodysplasia].

A case of late spondyloephiphyseal chondrodysplasia is described: a 16-yrs patient showing a diffused platyspondyly with a short thorax plus a remarkable dysplasia of femoral heads. The patient exhibited no internal organs, psychical, plasma, or endocrine alterations. The Authors stress the unusual aspect of the case, which exhibited normal stature in comparison with the usual pattern of spondyloepiphyseal chondrodysplasia described; in fact in the typical cases the general stature remains short.