Comparison between TRH-stimulated TSH and basal TSH measurement by a commercial immunoradiometric assay in the management of thyroid disease.

In order to assess the current diagnostic role of the TRH test following the introduction of more sensitive "second generation" TSH assays, we studied a series of 259 outpatients, 237 women and 22 men, mean age 44.7 years (range 12-82), 91 of whom (35%) with untreated simple goiter, 133 (51%) with simple nodular goiter on steady state I-thyroxine treatment, 18 (7%) with overt or subclinical hyperthyroidism and 17 (7%) with overt or subclinical hypothyroidism, compared to a control group of 26 euthyroid healthy subjects. Serum TSH was measured by a commercial immunoradiometric assay (clinical sensitivity 0.

[Beta-haemolytic group A streptococcal acute pharyngo-tonsillitis in pediatric patients: a clinical and epidemiological study].

Authors compared the efficacy and safety of 10-day regimen of Cefaclor (CEC), oral suspension, at the dose of 25 mg/kg BID, and Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (AMC), and Erythromycin (E) both given TID at the dose of 15 mg/kg in the treatment of proven group A beta hemolytic streptococcal pharyngo-tonsillitis. Of the 673 enrolled pediatric patients, 245 were selected and assigned to three groups of treatment (85 received CEC, 78 received AMC and 82 received E) and 217 were evaluated for efficacy. Clinical evaluations were performed on days 5 and 10 of treatment and 20 days after its completion (follow up).

Contraceptive choice in Vigevano, Italy, 1983-1993.

The authors, after general consideration of family planning programs, present a study of 22714 women, who, in the decade 1983-1993, required contraceptive protection from the Family Planning Centers in the region of Vigevano (Italy). The authors underline the importance of a protocol used before beginning treatment to help prevent women receiving methods carrying too great a health risk. The results show a very high prevalence of oral contraception, increasing in recent years with the introduction of triphasic pills, while use of intrauterine contraception seems to be declining.

Antimicrobial prophylaxis with ceftriaxone in renal transplantation. Prospective study of 170 patients.

Due to their uremic state and altered host response induced by immunodepressive therapy, renal transplant recipients are particularly susceptible to infectious complications with high morbidity and mortality. We here report the results of a prospective study with 170 renal transplant patients, undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of ceftriaxone in the prevention of wound and early urinary tract infection. No wound infection was observed, however, 12 patients (7.

Urinary kallikrein excretion in type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus.

Kidney haemodynamics appear to change after the early phases of diabetic nephropathy: increases in glomerular filtration rate and in renal plasma flow have been widely reported, while kidney size is increased. As the renal kallikrein-kinin system has been demonstrated to regulate kidney blood circulation, we have evaluated the excretion of urinary kallikrein in 87 Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients with and without hyperfiltration. Urinary kallikrein excretion was measured in 24-h urine collections.

Topical ciprofloxacin vs intramuscular gentamicin for chronic otitis media.

Clinical and bacteriological efficacy of topical ciprofloxacin hydrochloride was compared with that of intramuscular gentamicin sulfate in two groups composed of 30 patients each, all of whom were affected by chronic otitis media in the acute stage. Antibiotics were randomly given for 5 to 10 days according to the following schedules: ciprofloxacin hydrochloride, four drops (250 mg/mL in saline solution) administered locally twice a day, or gentamicin sulfate, 80 mg administered intramuscularly twice a day. We admitted to the study only adult patients affected by chronic otitis media in the acute stage with perforation of the tympanic membrane, without cholesteatoma, whose bacteriological culture was positive for Pseudomonas susceptible in vitro to ciprofloxacin and gentamicin.

Early prenatal diagnosis and therapy of fetal hypothyroid goiter.

We report a case of early diagnosis of iodide-induced fetal hypothyroidism at 22 weeks of gestation, confirmed at 29 weeks by cordocentesis and successfully treated intra-amniotically. The ultrasonographic feature was the presence of two echogenic masses in the fetal neck; polyhydramnios was absent. Mild hypothyroidism was diagnosed based on fetal serum obtained by percutaneous umbilical blood sampling at 29 weeks of gestation.

Topical and oral treatment of chronic otitis media with ciprofloxacin. A preliminary study.

The clinical and bacteriological efficacy of ciprofloxacin was studied in three groups composed of 20 patients each, all of whom were affected by chronic otitis media in the acute stage. Ciprofloxacin was randomly administered according to the following schedules for 5 to 10 days: 250 mg orally twice a day (group A); 3 drops (250 micrograms/mL in saline solution) locally twice a day (group B); and both of the previous treatments twice a day (group C). A high percentage of favorable clinical response (100% and 95%) and bacteriological eradication (95% and 85%) was observed in groups B and C.

Oral ciprofloxacin for treatment of acute bacterial pharyngotonsillitis.

The clinical efficacy and tolerability of ciprofloxacin orally administered at the dosage of 250 mg twice a day was evaluated in 25 patients affected by acute bacterial pharyngotonsillitis. All patients were non-responders to previous conventional antibiotic therapies due to in vitro resistance of the responsible bacteria, or possibly the low antibiotic concentration at the infection site. None of the patients had infections caused by group A beta-haemolyticus streptococcus.

SHBG, testosterone, androstenedione, 17-OH-Progesterone plasma levels in PCO affected women treated with a triphasic oral contraceptive.

A triphasic oral contraceptive Trigynon (Schering) or Triphasil (Wyeth) was administered to 13 anovulatory women with hyperandrogenism, enlarged polycystic ovaries and reversal of LH/FSH ratio. After three months of treatment total Testosterone, Androstenedione and 17-OH-Progesterone levels significantly decreased while SHBG significantly increased. Reduction of hair growth and improvement of acne were noted.

Ciprofloxacin concentrations in human fluids and tissues following a single oral dose.

Ciprofloxacin is a new quinolone carboxylic acid derivative which exerts its antibacterial activity at very low concentrations against a wide spectrum of microorganisms. Ciprofloxacin serum and urine concentrations were studied in 10 healthy volunteers after a single 250 and 500 mg oral dose. The concentration in ascitic fluid was determined in four male patients undergoing paracentesis after a single oral 250 mg dose (two patients) and 500 mg dose (two other patients).

Management of pelvi-ureteric junction obstruction in the first six months of life.

The authors report on clinical experience from 20 infants who were under six months of age, and who had been referred during the last five years for pelvi-ureteric junction obstruction. Any over-eagerness to arrive at an early diagnosis, mostly on the basis of prenatal ultrasonographic suspicion, must be tempered. Pyelocaliceal dilatation in newborn infants may not be related to obstruction, and overtreatment must be avoided by careful preoperative evaluation.

Objective tinnitus due to peritubal myoclonus. A case report.

A case of bilateral peritubal myoclonia with objective tinnitus in a 5-year-old child, under general anesthesia for phimosis surgery, is reported. After having shown the etiology, pathogeny and symptomatology of the peritubal myoclonic syndrome, the use of impedansometric research consisting of a spontaneous variation of 'compliance' is emphasized. The authors discuss the significance of differential diagnosis with the spontaneous variations of 'compliance' of vascular, respiratory and muscular origin.

[Radioisotope study of urinary deformity pathology in childhood].

The role of radionuclide investigation of urinary tract pathology in pediatric patients (computerized radionuclide urography and radionuclide cystogram) is discussed. Advantages of reliable morphological and functional study with a non invasive, low radiation procedure are emphasized.

[Radioisotopic study of some organs after radiotherapy of the upper abdomen (author's transl)].

The authors present the results of a study carried on 25 cases (Hodgkin patients) performing before and after standardized radiotherapy on retroperitoneal lymph nodes (45 Gy): - radionephrography and determination of renal plasmatic flux and glomerular filtration; - liver scintigraphy by colloids and 99Tcm-HIDA and liver functional tests by 131I-Bengal rose; - pancreas scintigraphy. Focal damage of the hepatic left lobe in younger patients and transitory impairment of some renal functional tests have been observed.