In a prospective observational study, influenza vaccination prevented hospitalization among older home care patients.

Objective: The aim of the study is (1) to describe the prevalence of vaccination against influenza in older home care patients and (2) to investigate the protective effect of influenza vaccination for hospitalization events.

Study Design And Setting: This is an observational study conducted in four large cohorts of elderly patients in home care during the 1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, and 2001-2002 influenza seasons. We analyzed data from the Italian Silver Network Home Care project.

Prominent activation of the putamen during essential palatal tremor: a functional MR imaging case study.

Palatal tremor (PT), also known as palatal myoclonus, is defined by short rhythmic contractions of the palatal musculature. Functional MR imaging (fMRI) revealed prominent bilateral neuronal activation in the putamen associated with essential palatal tremor (EPT) in a 41-year-old man. This implies a central role of the putamen in EPT, most likely as a consequence of diminished inhibition in an afferent pathway.

Detection and molecular characterization of a gentamicin-susceptible, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clone in Rio de Janeiro that resembles the New York/Japanese clone.

Staphylococcus aureus is the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections in many countries, and multiple factors contribute to the ability of these bacteria to disseminate and spread in hospitals. In Brazil it has been demonstrated that a multiresistant methicillin-resistant S. aureus clone, the so-called Brazilian epidemic clone, is widespread geographically.

Respiratory failure due to bilateral diaphragm palsy as an early manifestation of ALS.

Background: Diaphragm palsy is common in the advanced stages of motor neuron disease and is a primary cause of fatal outcome However, respiratory failure is a presenting symptom of motor neuron disease in only a small number of patients.

Case Report: We present the case of a patient with dyspnea and orthopnea followed by subacute respiratory failure due to bilateral diaphragm paralysis as the first manifestation of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Conclusions: Failure of respiratory muscle function can be the first symptom of motor neuron disease, and may precede clinical manifestation in voluntary motor units in ALS.

Circumferential abdominoplasty for sequential treatment after morbid obesity.

Background: The severely obese patient, after considerable loss of weight, has large remaining skin folds. Classic transverse abdominoplasties leave bulges in the flanks. This article presents an alternative procedure, circumferential abdominoplasty, which involves the perimeter of the abdomen.

[Registry of genetic and malformative diseases in the province of Macerata].

Objectives: The aim of this epidemiological research is to evaluate the prevalence of genetic diseases and malformative syndromes in paediatric population living in the Macerata county.

Material And Methods: All the data were collected through a careful analysis of a specific questionnaire sent to all the family paediatricians.

Results: 23,379 children living in Macerata county, aged 0 to 9 years, were evaluated (93.

Intima-media thickness after pravastatin stabilizes also in patients with moderate to no reduction in LDL-cholesterol levels: the carotid atherosclerosis Italian ultrasound study.

The Carotid Atherosclerosis Italian Ultrasound study (CAIUS), a multicenter, double-blind clinical trial, performed in 305 asymptomatic, moderately hypercholesterolemic patients, clearly demonstrated beneficial effects of pravastatin on the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) progression. The database of the CAIUS study was examined in order to investigate the presence of a relationship, if any, between the activity of pravastatin on IMT progression rate and its hypocholesterolemic effect. Quantitative B-mode ultrasound imaging was used to quantify the individual mean maximum IMT progression rate in 3 years.

Relevance of interleukin 1 receptor antagonist intron 2 polymorphism in Italian MS patients.

The A1/A1 genotype of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) polymorphism was more frequent in 339 Italian MS patients than in healthy controls (HCs) (odds ratio = 1.83). A more aggressive disease course was also associated with A1+ genotypes and might reflect the reduced ability of mononuclear cell cultures of A1+ HCs to produce IL-1Ra.

Longitudinal analysis of serum chemokine levels in the course of HIV-1 infection.

Objectives: To investigate the correlation between the serum levels of the CC-chemokines RANTES, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha and MIP-1beta, and the progression of HIV-1 disease.

Design: Retrospective analysis of serial serum samples from HIV-1 seroconverters selected according to clinical outcome.

Methods: Twenty-one patients, derived from a cohort recruited between 1985 and 1996 for a prospective study of the natural history of HIV infection, were analysed.

Bovine virus diarrhoea (BVD) control programme in an area in the Rome province (Italy).

A BVD control programme based on the identification and removal of persistently infected (PI) animals is being undertaken in an area in the Rome province, where BVD outbreaks had been previously detected. It involves 174 mainly dairy herds, from which blood samples of all bovines older than 1 year are obtained through the national brucellosis and leukosis eradication programme. Samples sufficient to detect the presence of seropositive animals at a prevalence of 5% or more are initially screened for antibodies against BVD virus (BVDV) using an immunoenzymatic assay.

Improvement of glucose/insulin metabolism reduces hypertension in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus recipients of kidney-pancreas transplantation.

There is increasing evidence that metabolic disorders are common in patients with hypertension. To evaluate the relationship between glucose/insulin metabolism and hypertension in diabetes, 61 hypertensive uremic insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients who were recipients of kidney or pancreas/kidney transplants were studied through a 1-year follow-up. Twenty of them received a kidney (K) transplant alone, 13 received a kidney and segmental pancreas (KSP), and 28 received a kidney and whole pancreas (KWP) with duodenocystostomy.

Interferon-gamma induced increases in intracellular calcium in T lymphocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis precede clinical exacerbations and detection of active lesions on MRI.

Background: Interferon (IFN)-gamma exerts a multiplicity of actions potentially relevant for the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis, including the expression of a transplasmalemma calcium (Ca2+) influx leading to an intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) increase able to lower T lymphocyte threshold of excitability. It has been previously shown in a cross sectional cumulative study that this influx is associated with clinical and MRI evidence of disease activity.

Methods: To evaluate the temporal relation between disease activity and the IFN-gamma activated Ca2+ influx in individual patients, a fluorimetric analysis was performed on peripheral blood lymphocytes from eight patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis every 15 days for one year.

Respiratory mechanics and morphometric changes during pneumoperitoneum in normal rats.

Pneumoperitoneum may give rise to several respiratory changes; nevertheless, no comprehensive analysis of respiratory mechanics has been performed under this condition. Respiratory mechanics and thoracoabdominal morphometry were evaluated in six sedated, anaesthetized, paralysed, and mechanically-ventilated rats before (control) and during pneumoperitoneum. After airway occlusion at end-inspiration, respiratory system, pulmonary, and chest wall resistive pressures (deltaP1,rs, deltaP1,L and deltaP1,cw, respectively) and viscoelastic/inhomogeneous pressures (deltaP2,rs, deltaP2,L and deltaP2,cw, respectively) were determined.

Role of leucocytes in free radical production during myocardial revascularisation.

Objective: To evaluate the role of leucocytes in free radical production in patients with depressed or normal ejection fraction undergoing coronary bypass.

Design: Two randomised control trials.

Setting: Tertiary care centre.

Age-specific incidence and duration of known diabetes. The Cremona Study.

Objective: To estimate the overall and age-specific incidence of known diabetes and its total duration through prevalence data and to assess the consistency of the results by mortality analysis of the same cohort.

Research Design And Methods: Two different sources were used. The first was a representative sample of 2,274 prevalent known-diabetic subjects.

Longitudinal study on the elderly population of a little town near Turin: preliminary results.

Unlabelled: A longitudinal study on the over 65-year-old population (656 subjects) of a little town in the district of Turin (Italy) has started. A random sample of 200 people, stratified for sex and age, has been extracted and subdivided into age groups of 5 years. The first multidimensional geriatric assessment has already been carried out.

Respiratory system, lung, and chest wall mechanics after longitudinal laparotomy in rats.

It has been demonstrated that respiratory resistance and elastance increase whilst the abdomen remains open during longitudinal laparotomy. We wished to determine whether changes also occur after abdominal closure in the same animal preparation. In 10 sedated, anaesthetized paralysed, and mechanically-ventilated rats (309 +/- 33 (SD) g), resistances and elastances of the respiratory system, lung, and chest wall were measured both before longitudinal laparotomy and directly after abdominal closure.

Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans in adult periodontitis. II. Characterization of isolated strains and effect of mechanical periodontal treatment.

Ten systemically healthy subjects (ages 28 to 60 years) with untreated moderate to severe periodontal disease and evidence of presence of A. actinomycetemcomitans underwent standard mechanical periodontal treatment consisting of oral hygiene instruction and systematic deep scaling and root planing. Before, and 4 to 5 weeks after treatment, clinical measurements and separate subgingival microbiological samples were taken from the mesial and distal aspect of every tooth, with the exception of the third molars.

Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans in adult periodontitis. I. Topographic distribution before and after treatment.

The aim of this investigation was to study the topographic distribution of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans in patients with adult periodontitis before and after mechanical periodontal treatment (repeated oral hygiene instructions, systematic deep scaling, and root planing). In 10 A. actinomycetemcomitans-positive patients, subgingival microbial samples were obtained from the mesial and distal aspect of every tooth (38 to 56 sites per patient, 479 sites in total) before and one month after treatment.

[The ergometric test after a heart transplant: its usefulness and limits].

Aim of this study was to analyze the cardiovascular response to graded physical exercise in patients who have undergone cardiac transplantation and to assess the ability of exercise stress testing in early detection of coronary artery disease. We studied 114 transplanted subjects (100 men and 14 women, mean age 46.6 +/- 11.

[Lipid parameters and cardiovascular risks in elderly patients hospitalized for ischemic cardiopathy. A case-control study].

In order to evaluate whether and to what extent elevated blood lipid concentrations and clinical expressions of coronary heart disease (CHD) are associated in the elderly, we studied the risk of CHD (myocardial infarction and angina pectoris) in a population of elderly hospitalized patients (210 subjects, 126 men and 84 women, average age 76 +/- 6 years) exposed to risk factors. 210 patients, free from current and previous cardiovascular diseases, age and sex matched, were recruited as the control group. Advanced senile decline, severe hepatic or renal failure and malignancies were considered exclusion criteria for both groups.