Evaluation of factor VII antigen in factor VII congenital deficiencies with a new ELISA assay.

An evaluation of a new Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) factor VII:Ag assay in factor VII congenital deficiencies was carried out. This assay was compared to factor VII:C assay and the Inhibitor Neutralization Assay (INA) for factor VII:Ag, both in normals and F VII-deficient patients. The correlations between ELISA F VII:Ag and VII:C, as well as the one between INA F VII:Ag and VII:C, were good (r = .

Concentrated DDAVP: further improvement in the management of mild factor VIII deficiencies.

This study was carried out to evaluate the pharmacological efficacy of a new concentrated 1 Deamino - (8-D-arginine)-vasopressin (DDAVP) preparation. Concentrated DDAVP (C-DDAVP), (40 micrograms/mL) was given subcutaneously (s.c.

Altered bladder function as the only and late presenting symptom of ependymoma of the filum terminale.

Tumors of the spinal cord present as a rule with posterior pain with or without radiation to the limbs, with loss of strength and/or sensory disturbances. We report a case in which acute retention of urine was the only presenting symptom.

Solitary diverticulum of the cecum and right colon. Report of six cases.

Diverticulum of the cecum is a rare, benign, generally asymptomatic lesion that manifests itself only following inflammatory or hemorrhagic complications. A personal series of six cases discusses the difficulty of differential diagnosis at both the preoperative and intraoperative levels. The preferable treatment is simple resection.

Evaluation of the nature of mildly prolonged prothrombin times.

Twenty-one asymptomatic individuals with a mildly prolonged prothrombin time (greater than 2 SD from the prothrombin time of the reference plasma) were found to have a mild isolated factor VII (F VII) defect (mean 38.8 U/dl; SD 13.2).

Risk of iron overload and 'hemochromatosis allele(s)' in patients on maintenance hemodialysis.

In the present study, we have evaluated the relationship between serum ferritin (SF) levels, 'hemochromatosis allele(s)', blood transfusions and iron parenteral administration in 69 hemodialysis patients. We demonstrated significantly higher SF levels in patients with hemochromatosis allele(s) (HA+) than in patients without hemochromatosis alleles (HA-). In addition, HA+ patients who had received blood transfusions up to 15 months prior to the study had SF levels even higher than those without blood transfusions.

Immunoscintigraphy of colorectal carcinoma with F (ab')2 fragments of anti-CEA monoclonal antibody.

A monoclonal antibody to carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (F023C5), belonging to IgG1 class, was obtained by cell fusion technique. Preliminary screening on different tissues was performed with immunoperoxidase staining, which showed good specificity of the antibody for gastric and colorectal carcinomas. F(ab')2 fragments were subsequently prepared and labeled with 131I and 111In.

Recovery of HIV-related retroviruses from Italian patients with AIDS or AIDS-related complex and from asymptomatic at-risk individuals.

Human retroviruses have been detected in supernatants of cultures of Ficoll-enriched lymphocytes from peripheral blood, lymph nodes and bone marrow of (a) 32 out of 42 patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), (b) 34 out of 64 patients with AIDS-related Complex (ARC), (c) 9 out of 18 asymptomatic children born from Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) seropositive mothers, and (d) 9 out of 28 asymptomatic drug abusers or hemophiliacs. Virus detection was monitored by assaying culture supernatants for the presence of Mg++-dependent reverse transcriptase (R.T.

Inhibitor to factor VIII in a non-haemophilic patient: evaluation of the response to DDAVP and the in vitro kinetics of factor VIII. A case report.

We report a case of inhibitor to factor VIII in a non-haemophilic patient. Immunosuppressive therapy with azathioprine was started, but without any advantage. Evaluation of the kinetics of exogenous factor VIII in vitro showed a rapid but incomplete neutralization of factor VIII.

Multicenter study of immunoscintigraphy with radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies in patients with melanoma.

A multicenter study was performed to analyze the efficacy of 99mTc- and 111In-labeled F(ab')2 fragments of monoclonal antibody (MoAb) 225.28S (reactive with a high molecular weight melanoma associated antigen) to radioimage malignant lesions in patients with melanoma. A total of 254 melanoma patients, carrying 412 documented melanoma lesions, were studied in 10 nuclear medicine departments.

Prevalence of HTLV-III/LAV antibodies in Italian asymptomatic hemophiliacs given commercial concentrates of factors VIII and IX.

The prevalence of HTLV-III/LAV antibodies was evaluated in 222 Italian asymptomatic hemophiliacs treated exclusively with commercial factor concentrates made with American plasma. An increase of HTLV-III/LAV seropositivity from 1983 to 1985 was evident. This was independent of the type of hemophilia (A or B) but directly correlated to the amount of concentrate administered in the previous year.

Homozygous protein C deficiency with moderately severe clinical symptoms.

We report a large family with two members homozygotes for protein C deficiency, with activity levels of 5% and 9%. Thirteen additional members were heterozygotes, with protein C activity ranging from 36-66% and equally low levels of protein C antigen. The homozygotes presented with recurrent deep-vein thromboses and pulmonary emboli, but have reached the ages of 26 and 37 years.

Hemophilic patients with an inhibitor to factor VIII treated with high dose factor VIII concentrate. Results of a collaborative study for the evaluation of factor VIII inhibitor titer, recovery and half life of infused factor VIII.

The long term treatment of hemophilic patients with an inhibitor to Factor VIII has been difficult although some success with immunosuppressive agents has been reported. Eighteen hemophilic patients, mainly from Bonn in Germany, but also from other countries, have completed a high dose Factor VIII treatment in an attempt to reduce their inhibitor titer and induce "immune tolerance" to Factor VIII. Plasma samples from the 18 patients collected before and after infusion of 50 units Factor VIII/kg body weight were sent to five laboratories to evaluate inhibitor titer, Factor VIII recovery and half life.

Heterogeneity of type I von Willebrand disease: evidence for a subgroup with an abnormal von Willebrand factor.

Type I von Willebrand disease (vWD) is characterized by equally low plasma concentrations of von Willebrand factor antigen (vWF:Ag) and ristocetin cofactor (RiCof) and by the presence of all vWF multimers in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-agarose gel electrophoresis. For 17 patients (13 kindreds) diagnosed with these criteria, we have studied the platelet contents of vWF:Ag and RiCof and the changes of these in plasma after DDAVP infusion. Platelet vWF:Ag and RiCof were normal in four kindreds (called "platelet normal" subgroup); following 1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin; plasma vWF:Ag, RiCof and the bleeding time (BT) became normal.

Comparison between subcutaneous and intravenous DDAVP in mild and moderate hemophilia A.

Sixteen patients with mild and moderate hemophilia were given Desmopressin (DDAVP) subcutaneously in the absence of any actual bleeding. The response to the drug - in terms of factor VIII coagulant activity rise - became apparent 15 min after the injection, reaching the maximal response after one hour (means 3.2 times the baseline levels; SD 1.

Carrier detection in factor VII congenital deficiency.

Thirty obligate and 28 possible carriers of factor VII congenital deficiency, belonging to 16 families, were studied in relation to the immunological variants to which the kindreds belonged, namely, VII+, VIIR and VII-. Factor VII activity and antigen determinations in these subjects formed two phenotypical patterns: a discrepant pattern characterized by a low ratio activity/antigen present in VII+ heterozygotes, and a non-discrepant pattern (normal ratio activity/antigen) which is present in the VII- and VIIR variants. In the first genetic variant the detection of carriers can be performed using the ratio VII:C/VII:Ag.

Imaging with 131I-labeled monoclonal antibodies to a high-molecular-weight melanoma-associated antigen in patients with melanoma: efficacy of whole immunoglobulin and its F(ab')2 fragments.

In vitro experiments selected optimal conditions to radiolabel with 131I the whole immunoglobulin and F(ab')2 fragments of the monoclonal antibody (MoAb) 225.28S to a high-molecular-weight melanoma-associated antigen (HMW-MAA). Injection of the radiolabeled whole immunoglobulin and F(ab')2 fragments of the MoAb 225.