[Combination of transesophageal atrial pacing and echo-dipyridamole test in the diagnosis of coronary disease in patients with suspected angina pectoris and negative exercise test].

Background: Echo-dipyridamole test is an useful tool for non-invasive demonstration of inducible myocardial ischemia in patients with coronary artery disease, its sensitivity being consistently higher as compared with classic exercise stress testing. However, in patients with single vessel who often perform a normal or borderline stress test, even the sensibility of echo-dipyridamole test is comparatively reduced.

Methods: In 19 patients with clinically suspected angina (effort-related in 4, at rest in 8, mixed in 7) and normal exercise stress test, standard echo-dipyridamole test was performed.

Emergency admissions of opioid drug abusers for overdose: a chronobiological study of enhanced risk.

Study Objective: To determine whether there is a specific temporal risk for opioid drug overdose.

Design: To study patients presenting to the ED in a comatose state from accidental drug opioid overdose.

Participants: Two hundred seventy-four patients were admitted to the ED of the Hospital of Ferrara, Italy, from 1988 to 1990, 225 men (82.

Sudden death in diabetic subjects: evidence for a peculiar circadian variation in occurrence.

Anatomo-physiopathological and chronobiological features of 59 diabetic subjects out of 610 non hospitalized individuals observed for sudden death (SD) in an Emergency Room, over an 8-year period, were studied. Mean age and anatomopathological causes of SD were not different between diabetic (DMs) and non-diabetic subjects (NDs). However the frequency of DMs was higher among subjects who died from circulatory failure death (CFD), rather than from arrhythmic death (AD).

Expression and function of nerve growth factor and nerve growth factor receptor on cultured keratinocytes.

Keratinocytes, a key cellular component both for homeostasis and pathophysiologic processes of the skin, secrete a number of cytokines and are stimulated by several growth factors. Nerve growth factor (NGF) is synthesized in the skin and basal keratinocytes express the low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor (NGF-R). We present evidence that normal human keratinocytes in culture express the low- and the high-affinity NGF-R both at the mRNA level, as determined by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and at the protein level, as shown by cytofluorimetric analysis.

Expression of B7 costimulatory molecule in cultured human epidermal Langerhans cells is regulated at the mRNA level.

Langerhans cells (LC) belong to the dendritic cell lineage and are the principal antigen-presenting cells of squamous epithelia. Short-term cultured LC (cLC) exhibit a marked augmented capacity to stimulate allogeneic T cells and acquire the ability to activate naive T cells, probably in relation to enhanced expression of accessory signals. In this study, we evaluated the expression of B7 costimulatory molecule (CD80) in human freshly isolated (fLC) and cLC at both the protein and mRNA level.

Antiapoptotic effect of c-fes protooncogene during granulocytic differentiation.

The c-fes protooncogene is expressed at high levels in the terminal stages of granulocytic differentiation. Its product, p92c-fes, exhibits a tyrosine-kinase activity and is involved in the cellular response to GM-CSF, but its role is not yet clarified. To study this problem, the c-fes protooncogene expression has been inhibited in HL60 cells and in fresh leukemic blast cells of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) induced to differentiate with All-Trans-Retinoic Acid (ATRA).

Acute intracerebral haemorrhage: circadian and circannual patterns of onset.

Hypothesis of the circannual and circadian variation in onset of intracerebral haemorrhage (CH) was verified, by means of single cosinor method and chi-square test for goodness of fit, in 161 consecutive patients (94 men and 67 women) admitted into the Institute of Neurosurgery of Ferrara Hospital, Italy, over 9 years. The majority of CH occurred in the morning between 06.00 AM and 12.

Anatomoclinical and chronobiological aspects of sudden death in elderly subjects.

Anatomoclinical and chronobiological aspects of sudden death (SD) of 671 subjects observed at the Emergency Room of Ferrara Hospital from January 1983 to December 1991 were prospectively investigated. 3 groups stratified by age were considered: group A with age < 65 years (no. = 251, 37.

Fatal pulmonary embolism in hospitalized patients: evidence for a winter peak.

This study was intended to determine whether there are circa-annual variations in the incidence of fatal pulmonary embolism for hospitalized patients. Patients (152), admitted into both the medical and surgical departments of St. Anna Hospital of Ferrara, Italy, during an 8-year period (1983-1990) and who died in hospital as a result of pulmonary embolism, were considered.

Circadian variation in the time of onset of acute gastrointestinal bleeding.

The increased attention to biologic rhythms and clinical manifestations of several diseases has recently led to the identification of "chronorisks" for certain pathologic events. To evaluate whether a temporal pattern exists for acute gastrointestinal bleeding, 369 consecutive patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding observed at the emergency department (ED) of S. Anna Hospital of Ferrara, Italy, during a 3-year period (1988-1990) were studied.

[The incidence of acute myocardial infarct during the week. A chronobiological evaluation].

Several diseases, and particularly cardiovascular affections, show a periodic fluctuation in their occurrence. We investigated acute myocardial infarction (AMI) incidence in connection with the day of the week, looking for a link with psycho-social phenomena. Eight hundred and fifty-two patients with AMI were considered: they had been admitted to the emergency department of two main towns of northeastern Italy during a calendar year.

Sudden death may show a circadian time of risk depending on its anatomo-clinical causes and age.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the time of occurrence of sudden death exhibits a circadian rhythm depending on its different anatomoclinical causes. A longitudinal prospective investigation of 610 nonhospitalized subjects who died suddenly in the Emergency Room of Ferrara Hospital between January 1983 and December 1990 was conducted. All subjects underwent autopsy.

Inhibition of c-fes expression by an antisense oligomer causes apoptosis of HL60 cells induced to granulocytic differentiation.

The c-fes protooncogene is expressed at high levels in the terminal stages of granulocytic differentiation, but so far no definite function has been attributed to the product of this oncogene. To tackle this problem, the c-fes protooncogene expression has been inhibited in HL60 cells, and fresh leukemic promyelocytes of acute promyelocytic leukemia have been induced to differentiate with retinoic acid (RA) and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Inhibition was obtained by incubating the cells with a specific c-fes antisense oligodeoxynucleotide.

Chronobiological aspects of acute cerebrovascular diseases.

The study was aimed at further investigating the circadian and circannual patterns of stroke onset. Study design and type of participants: 977 strokes (475 in men and 502 in women) concerning 926 subjects (457 men and 469 women) admitted to Ferrara Hospital in two calendar years (1990-1991), were prospectively investigated. The strokes were classified as based on cerebral infarction (CI), transient ischemic attack (TIA) and cerebral hemorrhage (CH: subarachnoid and intracerebral hemorrhage).

Circadian variation in the onset of acute myocardial infarction: lack of an effect due to age and sex.

The circadian patterns in the onset of symptoms of acute myocardial infarction were assessed in a prospective study involving 450 patients. Analysis of the data in the 424 patients in whom the time of onset was known did not show any statistically significant circadian rhythms, either for the group as a whole or for subgroups divided according to sex, age group (< 60, 60-69, 70-79 and > or = 80 years old), or the presence or absence of diabetes mellitus. The frequency of onset of symptoms was highest in the morning (06.

Overexpression of c-kit in a leukemic cell population carrying a trisomy 4 and its relationship with the proliferative capacity.

The expression of c-kit and its ligand, the stem cell factor (SCF), was studied in five cases of acute myeloid leukemia. One of these had a trisomy of chromosome 4, where the c-kit oncogene is located. In this case, the c-kit oncogene was overexpressed, but matched by a low expression of its ligand, SCF.

Expression of interleukins 1, 3, 6, stem cell factor and their receptors in acute leukemia blast cells and in normal peripheral lymphocytes and monocytes.

Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction amplification (RT-PCR) and Southern blot analysis were used to evaluate ligand and receptor expression of interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1 alpha), interleukin 3 (IL-3), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and stem cell factor (SCF) in peripheral blood lymphocytes and monocytes and in several acute leukemia blast cell populations. Resting peripheral lymphocytes and monocytes expressed both ligand and receptor of the four cytokines at considerable levels. The leukemic blast cells of the M1-M4 phenotypes are characterized by almost complete lack of expression of IL-1 alpha, IL-3 and IL-6 and the constant and usually high expression of SCF.

Chronoepidemiology in human diseases.

Current knowledges about time-dependent variations in onset of several acute medical diseases are briefly reviewed. Moreover, temporal variation in relative risk factors are also discussed. Any clue to the increased likelihood of a given event can heighten suspicion and shorten time of effective action.

[Chronobiological approach to renal colic].

The concentration of lithogenic and antilithogenic substances in urine shows circadian fluctuations. With this investigation we intended to verify the presence of a chronobiologic rhythm of colic pain in urinary tract calculosis. Four hundred and forty seven consecutive patients with a clinical symptomatology related to urinary tract colic pain were studied.