Relevance of early poststress variation in left ventricular function studied by gated-SPECT: evaluation in different clinical settings and relationship with angiography results.

Background: Stress-induced ischemia may cause a decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction (EF). We evaluated the variation in early postexercise EF (S-EF) compared with rest EF (R-EF) in different clinical settings to detect ventricular dysfunction. We also correlated ventricular dysfunction with an angiographic score, the Syntax score, in a subgroup of ischemic patients.

A case of carotid artery resection and replacement in advanced laryngeal carcinoma.

Carotid involvement in head and neck tumours carries a poor prognosis and poses an additional challenge to patient management. Tumor fixity and high-definition imaging modalities can suggest, but not determine, carotid wall invasion, which can be proven only by perioperative observation. Conservative management offers no hope of cure or palliation.

Acute peripheral vertigo: involvement of the hemostatic system.

Viral infection is the most frequent cause of unilateral acute peripheral vestibulopathy (APV). Another possible cause is a vascular disorder in the labyrinth area associated with alterations in hemostasis. In a group of 45 patients with APV and in a series of 25 patients with Ménière's disease (control group), we evaluated blood parameters, including total cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoprotein A and B, lipoprotein (a), homocysteine, folate, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time.

Vestibular disorders in primary thrombocytosis.

Objective: Balance disturbances are some of the most common symptoms among the clinical manifestations of chronic myeloproliferative disorders (MPDs) with a high platelet count, such as essential thrombocythaemia (ET) and polycythaemia vera (PV). In this study, we evaluated the vestibulo-oculomotor and vestibulospinal reflexes in a group of patients suffering from these diseases.

Design: Evaluation of balance disturbances.

Alternobaric and hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the immediate and long-term treatment of Menière's disease.

Forty-five patients suffering from Menière's disease were submitted to pressure chamber therapy: 20 with constant pressure (2.2 ATA, hyperbaric treatment) and 25 with continuous variations in pressure levels (from 1.7 to 2.

Electrophoretic pattern of physiological human nasal secretions.

Various proteins have been detected in human nasal mucus, but their electrophoretic pattern has not been extensively investigated. Therefore, we have studied this pattern in nasal mucus samples from a group of 40 healthy subjects (20 males and 20 females). The electrophoretic separations have been performed under both native and denaturing conditions.

Acupuncture treatment for balance disorders following whiplash injury.

In this study, by means of computerized static posturography, we evaluated the postural changes after acupuncture treatment in a group of 15 patients with balance disorders caused by cervical torsion due to Whiplash Injury (WI). The acupuncture treatment consisted of 3 sessions (one weekly session for 3 weeks) during which the acupuncture points Bladder 10 (Bl.10) and Gall Bladder 20 (G.

Menière's disease: role of antibodies against basement membrane antigens.

Recently, high levels of anti-collagen II (CII) antibodies have been found in a significant percentage of patients with Menière's disease (MD). An immune response against other collagens (C) present in the basal membranes has also been suggested by the presence of anti-CIV and anti-laminin antibodies in a number of instances of progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) and Raynaud's phenomenon (RP). The aim of the present study was to measure the levels and frequency of anti-CI, -CII, -CIV, -CV, and anti-laminin antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 45 patients affected by MD, 24 patients with PSS, 24 patients with RP, and 25 normal subjects.

[Delayed endolymphatic hydrops: an analysis of 12 cases].

Delayed Endolymphatic Hydrops (DEH) is a clinical entity which is characterized by an early phase with a profound sensorineural hearing loss in one ear. After a prolonged period of time (from 1 to 68 years) a late phase of the disease appears with different otologic symptoms. The ipsilateral type of endolymphatic hydrops appears in the deaf ear with consequent episodic vertigo.

[Use of the head shaking test in the posturographic diagnosis].

This study on equilibrium disturbances employed the Head Shaking Test (HST), with manoeuvres similar to those used in studying the Vestibule Oculomotor Reflex (VOR) as well as the Vestibule Spinal Reflex (VSR), following a posturographic technique. Two hundred and forty-eight patients suffering of equilibrium disturbance of peripheral (168 cases) and central (80 cases) origin underwent study in four different conditions: Open Eyes (OE), Closed Eyes (CE), Open Eyes with Head Retroflection (OER) and Closed Eyes and HST (CE-HST). The results obtained (47.

[Immunological aspects of Menière's disease].

Among the various aetiopathogenetic hypotheses regarding Ménière's disease, the immunologic one has recently received a considerable amount of interest. Several studies have been performed using specific inner ear antigens (cell-mediated immunity) or by the evolution of circulating autoantibodies (i.e.

[Use of SPECT in the diagnosis of vertigo syndromes of vascular nature].

Dizziness is doubtlessly one of the most common symptoms to arise in ischemia of the brainstem. In such cases the circulatory deficit can not only cause a direct lesion of the vestibular structures but it may also block the compensatory process. There are, however, significant difficulties in establishing whether such dizziness can be attributed to a brainstem insufficiency (BI).

[Posturography in unilateral peripheral vestibular deficiency].

A thorough study of vestibular function cannot be limited to the evaluation of VOR alone; it must also include the study of VSR which serves to control erect stance under both static and dynamic conditions. In unilateral peripheral vestibular lesions (UVL) computerized stabilometry makes it possible to perform a more accurate evaluation of the VSR complex through the quantification of "postural sway". Furthermore, the diagnostic potential of stabilometry can be further fine-tuned by introducing a sensitization test, in particular the head retroflexion (OCR) and head shaking (OC-HST) tests.

[Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: clinical aspects and medico-legal considerations].

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is quite frequently found as an otological consequence of cranial traumas; thus leading to medico-legal implications. An attempt has herewith been made to evaluate these implications on the basis of data available. Therefore, 158 patients suffering from BPPV were examined between 1984-1986.

Assessment of head shaking test in neuro-otological practice.

The head shaking test (HST) is an important test in neuro-otological diagnosis. In our study of 277 patients complaining of dizziness we verified this importance. The results thus obtained were compared with the results recorded in 73 normal subjects.

Leiomyoma of the nose. A case report.

A case of leiomyoma of the nose is reported. The nose is a very rare site for tumours of myogenic origin. Up to date, only seven cases have been published.

Treatment of ear, nose and throat infections with clofoctol.

Fifty-two adult patients affected by infectious otorhinolaryngological diseases were treated rectally with clofoctol, a new chemotherapeutic phenol derivative. The clinical diagnoses included tonsillitis, paranasal sinus infections, nose and nasopharyngeal infections, external ear canal and middle ear infections. Evaluation of the results was based on clinical and bacteriological data; the effectiveness of the drug was also confirmed by statistical reference to a control group consisting of 52 adult patients affected by otorhinolaryngological infections treated only with topical agents or not treated at all.

[Comparative studies of the results of caloric vestibular tests and classical torsion swing tests].

Vestibular Paresis (PL) and Directional Preponderance (PD) are the measurements found on caloric testing described by Fitzgerald and Hallpike (1942); frequency nystagmogram is the typical result of the torsion swing test of the French school. The differences between the two methods stimulated us to make a comparison of the results. Seventy-eight patients affected by unilateral peripheral vestibulopathy in various degree of compensation were submitted to both tests.

[The occurrence of nystagmus in sustained sinusoidal stimulation].

Twenty normal subjects have been submitted to a set of vestibular sinusoidal stimulations, the maximal acceleration per hemiperiod being constant. However the nystagmic response (number of beats per hemiperiod) was not constant, but increased during every single trial. The clinical consequences of this observation are discussed.

[Comparison between holter dynamic ECG and exercise stress test in the evaluation of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with ischaemic heart disease (author's transl)].

The Authors have examined the possibility for diagnostic and prognostic value of exercise stress test and of dynamic ecg in the identification of ventricular ectopic activity which represent a factor risk of sudden death. 41 male patients with IHD and Myocardial Infarction were given exercise stress test and Holter monitoring according to the usual methods. Both methods were useful to identify Pts with arrhythmias.

[Echocardiographic evaluation of myocardial infarct patients undergoing rehabilitation].

29 patients with a recent myocardial infarction underwent a M-mode echocardiographic study before and after an ergometric training in order to study the training effects on the left ventricular function and on the cardiac chambers dimensions. 25 patients in the same clinical conditions and no trained acted as a control group and were evaluated with the same procedure. Our results show, in the trained group, a significant reduction of the diastolic (-5.

[Hypertension in young man. Epidemiologic investigation in students of an Italian secondary school (author's transl)].

The investigation carried out on a group of 1221 students (aged 13-19) of an Italian secondary school shows (19.6%) prevalence of high blood pressure. The prevalence was calculated assuming as hypertensive people with blood pressure higher than an arbitrary limit of 140/90 mmHg.