Protective treatments for copper alloy artworks: preliminary studies of sodium oxalate and limewater effectiveness against bronze disease.

Nantokite (CuCl) locked inside subsurface micro-pits has been recognised as the driving force to the form of corrosion called bronze disease. The use of the traditional corrosion inhibitor benzotriazole is questioned because of toxicity. So there is a need for alternative conservation treatments.

Added prognostic value of molecular imaging parameters over proliferation index in typical lung carcinoid: an [18F]FDG PET/CT and SSTR imaging study.

Objective: This study was performed to evaluate the prognostic meaning of volumetric and semi-quantitative parameters measured using [18F]FDG PET/CT and somatostatin receptor (SSTR) imaging in patients with typical lung carcinoid (TC), and their relationship with proliferative index (Ki67).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 67 patients (38-94 years old, mean: 69.7) with diagnosis of TC who underwent [18F]FDG PET/CT and/or SSTR scintigraphy/SPECT with [111In]DTPA-Octreotide plus contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) at staging evaluation.

Toxicity and morbility after isolated lower limb perfusion in 242 chemo-hyperthermal treatments for cutaneous melanoma: the experience of the Tuscan Reference Centre.

Background: The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the results concerning the regional and systemic toxicity and complications in 242 chemo-hyperthermal treatments (HILPs) for lower limb melanoma.

Patients And Methods: 60 HILPs (G-A) were performed with mild HT plus L-PAM (10 mg/lt) +/- D-actimomycin; 74 HILPs (G-B) with true HT (40-41.8 degrees C) plus L-PAM (10 mg/lt) +/- D-act; 108 HILPs (G-C) with true HT plus L-PAM (10 mg/lt) +/- D-act plus L-PAM (5 mg/lt) additional bolus.

Key factors for best control of the systemic leakage during hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion (HILP) in ECC. A critical synthesis of our experience.

The L-PAM-ILP procedures under true hyperthermal regime (41.5-41.8 degrees C) require both close control of the physical parameters of the treatment (temperatures profiles and time duration, artero-venous pressure, perfusate flow rate) and medical rationale (drug, dosage, fractioning, timing).

18FDG-positron emission tomography in post treatment evaluation of residual mass in Hodgkin's lymphoma: long-term results.

In patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) at the end of first line therapy an accurate imaging technique with high prognostic value is needed to assess response to treatment and predict those patients who will suffer disease relapse. This technique and its results permit the quick initiation of a second line therapy in patients suffering from a progressive disease or those unresponsive to treatment avoid over-treatment of patients in complete remission or those having a non-active residual disease. We included a (18)FDG-positron emission tomography (PET) scan to the diagnostic set-up to investigate 28 patients following the end of their treatment.

Paradoxical embolism in a preterm infant.

Cerebral paradoxical embolism has not until now been described as a cause of cryptogenic stroke in newborn infants. A male infant was born at 27 weeks 2 days' gestational age by emergency Caesarean section in a twin pregnancy because of intrauterine growth retardation and absence of diastolic flow in the twin. His birthweight was 950g (50th centile).

Copper resinate: preparation, characterisation and study of degradation.

This paper describes a method for the synthesis of Copper Resinate, which disappeared from artists' palettes in the eighteenth century. This was carried out by interpreting ancient recipes following a scientific approach. Its characterisation using Fourier Transform-Infrared Spectrometry and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry demonstrated that it is a mixture containing copper and oxidised abietic acids, mainly dehydroabietic and 7-oxo-dehydroabietic acids, formed during the preparation of the pigment and the curing of the paint layer.

Octreoscan SPET evaluation in the diagnosis of pancreas neuroendocrine tumors.

The study describes the results of Octreoscan SPET (OCTSPET) qualitative and semi-quantitative evaluation in 38 patients with suspected pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. SPET studies were acquired at 4 and 24 hours after the injection of 111-220 MBq of 111-In-pentetreotide (Octreoscan). Qualitative and semi-quantitative evaluations were performed.

Early detection of myocardial ischaemia in the emergency department by rest or exercise (99m)Tc tracer myocardial SPET in patients with chest pain and non-diagnostic ECG.

Chest pain (CP) represents a frequent reason for presentation at the emergency department (ED). A large proportion of patients have non-diagnostic ECG on presentation, and in many cases several hours have elapsed since onset of symptoms. Acute rest myocardial scintigraphy (rest SPET) has been shown to have a relevant role in the detection of patients at risk for coronary events, but its sensitivity and negative predictive value are optimal only within the first 3 h following onset of symptoms.

Radioisotopic lymphatic mapping of the sentinel node in melanoma: importance of immunohistochemistry.

Background: Elective lymph node dissection (ELND) for patients with malignant melanoma is still controversial. A possible alternative could be biopsy of the first tumor draining lymph node, the sentinel node (SN), which can be identified by means of radionuclide techniques.

Aim: Our study was undertaken to assess the accuracy of lymph node biopsy and to stress the importance of immunohistochemistry (IHC) in the pathological assessment of the SN for improved staging of the primary tumor.

Prediction of post-revascularization functional recovery of asynergic myocardium using quantitative thallium-201 rest-redistribution tomography: has the reverse redistribution pattern an independent significance?

The significance of reverse redistribution on rest-redistribution thallium-201 myocardial scintigraphy is unclear. Previous studies suggested that reverse redistribution segments with normal resting activity include viable myocardium, whilst resting defects with further worsening correspond to scar. We evaluated whether reverse redistribution has an independent significance for the prediction of post-revascularization recovery, particularly as compared with the quantification of redistribution activity.

HPLC determination of inorganic cation levels in CSF and plasma of conscious rabbits.

An HPLC method is described using conductimetric detection for the quantitative determination of sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma of conscious rabbits. This method enabled the four cations to be estimated with rapidity, sensitivity, accuracy, and precision. The mean millimolar concentrations +/- SD found in CSF and (plasma) of 15 untreated animals were as follows: sodium, 146.

[Oral glucose tolerance test reevaluated in 68 subjects for its validity in growth hormone secretors].

The aim of this research was to establish both the frequency and the amount of the response of pituitary GH secretion to oral glucose load (OGL) in comparison to the usual, insulin and arginine, stimuli. Previous research on this topic was performed using either a limited number of subjects or experimenting throughout too short a period of time. 68 young subjects, 50 males and 18 females, aged 6-17 years, were studied.

Hyperinsulinism and insulin resistance in polycystic ovarian syndrome: a verification using oral glucose, I.V. Glucose and tolbutamide.

Twenty-six female in-patients, aged 14-34 years, suffering from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) were investigated. Sixteen normal women, matched with patients for age and weight, were used as controls. Both glucose and insulin curves and areas, insulin/glucose area ratio [insulin resistance index (IA/GA)] were studied by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), i.

[Hyperinsulinism and insulin resistance in the polycystic ovary syndrome as tested with tolbutamide].

The aim of this research was to study both insulin secretion and insulin resistance index (IRI) in seventeen females, aged 16-30, affected by polycystic ovarian syndrome. The diagnosis was made using clinical, hormonal, radiological and echographic criteria. Eight healthy women, carefully matched with our patients for age and for statistical obesity incidence, were studied as controls.

[Intravenous glucose tolerance test in the polycystic ovary syndrome].

The problem of hyperinsulinism and insulin resistance, previously observed by us in PCOS using the tolbutamide test, was studied in the present research using intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT). 16 women (3 obese) aged 14-34 years, affected by PCOS, were studied. The diagnosis of PCOS was made using clinical, hormonal, radiologic and echographic criteria.

[Oral glucose tolerance test in polycystic ovary syndrome].

OGTT was used to clarify the problem of hyperinsulinism and insulin resistance previously investigated by us in PCOS, using the tolbutamide test. The results of this latter investigation were in agreement with the previous found by us and with the similar already reported by other Authors. 26 women (7 obese), aged 14-34 years, affected by PCOS, were studied.