Safety aspects of iodinated contrast media related to their physicochemical properties: a pharmacoepidemiology study in two Tuscany hospitals.

Background: More than 380,000 angiographic procedures are performed every year in Italian hospitals, with an increase rate of 8% per year. Although contrast media (CM) are considered relatively safe, adverse drug reactions (ADRs) remain an important issue.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to quantify the incidence of immediate and delayed nonrenal ADRs to iodinated CM in an Italian cohort and to evaluate whether their different physicochemical properties are able to affect the incidence of immediate or delayed ADRs.

Carryover of aflatoxin from feed to milk in dairy cows with low or high somatic cell counts.

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) residues in milk are regulated in many parts of the world and can cost dairy farmers significantly due to lost milk sales. Additionally, due to the carcinogenicity of this compound contaminated milk can be a major public health concern. Thirty-four lactating dairy cows were utilised to investigate the relationship between somatic cell counts (SCC), milk yield and conversion of dietary aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) into milk AFM1 (carryover (CO)).

Cranio-spinal subdural empyema due to S. intermedius: a case report.

Background And Purpose: Subdural empyema represents a loculated infection between the dura and the arachnoid. It has been described either intracranially or in the spinal canal, the latter localization being quite rare. While treatment guidelines for a single (either brain or spinal) localization of a subdural empyema are more or less established, its management when a massive involvement of CNS is evident represents a challenge.

Performance, intestinal microflora, and wall morphology of weanling pigs fed sodium butyrate.

Adding organic acids to piglet diets is known to be helpful in overcoming postweaning syndrome, and butyric acid is known to be the main energy source for the epithelial cells of the large intestine and the terminal ileum. This study investigated the effect of sodium butyrate (SB) on in vitro and in vivo swine microflora, piglet growth performance, and intestinal wall morphology. During a 24-h in vitro cecal fermentation, total gas production and maximal rate of gas production were reduced linearly by SB (P < 0.

Effect of gluconic acid on piglet growth performance, intestinal microflora, and intestinal wall morphology.

Gluconic acid (GA) derives from the incomplete oxidation of glucose by some Gluconobacter strains. When fed to nonruminant animals, GA is only poorly absorbed in the small intestine and is primarly fermented to butyric acid in the lower gut. This study investigated the effect of GA on in vitro growth response and metabolism of swine cecal microflora and on animal growth performance, intestinal wall morphology, and intestinal microflora.

Nervous system involvement in Degos disease.

Degos disease, or malignant atrophic papulosis, is a rare obstructive vasculopathy of unknown origin, characterized by distinctive skin lesions, visceral involvement, and an unfavorable outcome. The gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system are most frequently affected, but cases limited to benign skin lesions have also been described. Neuroradiologic reports of this condition are exceptionally rare.

Transient MRI abnormalities associated with partial status epilepticus: a case report.

We report the case of an 18-year-old woman who presented a long-lasting cluster of partial seizures, and MRI cortical abnormalities localized in the left parietal lobe. The MRI changes correlated with the site of the epileptogenic focus, and disappeared within 2 weeks. The recognition of these reversible MRI abnormalities, which are presumably due to a temporary alteration of blood-brain barrier in the epileptogenic zone with subsequent edema, and are not associated with any underlying organic conditions, is extremely useful in the medical management of the patient and allows to avoid other invasive diagnostic procedures.

Degenerative disease of the lumbosacral spine: disk herniation and stenosis.

Degeneration of the intervertebral disk complex begins early in life and is a consequence of a variety of environmental factors as well as of normal aging. Degeneration of bone and soft tissue spinal elements is the most common cause of spinal stenosis. The term "degeneration" as commonly applied to the spine covers such a wide variety of clinical, radiological and pathological manifestations that the word is really only a symbol of our ignorance.

Diagnostic imaging of neurotuberculosis.

Neurotuberculosis is represented by different and possibly concomitant forms, of which the most frequent are tuberculous meningitis and parenchymal tuberculosis followed by cerebral miliary tuberculosis and the extremely rare tuberculous abscesses. Tuberculous meningitis is characterized by the presence of inflammatory meningeal exudate involving meningeal surfaces and CSF spaces with involvement of relative vascular and nervous structures. Most frequent complications are parenchymal infarction, hydrocephalus and mycotic aneurysms.

Cervical cord compression due to atypical primary neuroectodermal tumor (PNET): one-stage removal and combined cervical spine stabilization. Case report.

Introduction: The neuroectodermal tumor of bone constitutes a recently isolated neoplasm, which morphologically resembles the peripheral neuroepithelioma of soft tissue. The diagnosis is made by excluding readily classified small round cell neoplasms and then demonstrating the neural origin of the tumor by means of ultrastructural or immunocytochemical studies.

Clinical Case: We report a case of a primary neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) with atypical findings (primary cervical location, massive vertebral body infiltration and isolated neurological symptomatology).

Severe form of Freeman-Sheldon syndrome associated with brain anomalies and hearing loss.

We describe a child with whistling face and multiple contractures, including ulnar deviation of fingers, compatible with a diagnosis of Freeman-Sheldon syndrome (FSS). This patient also presented severe hypertonicity, multiple episodes of pneumonia, difficulty in swallowing, and poor weight gain, which are characteristic of the most severe cases of FSS. A brain CT scan showed cerebellar and brainstem atrophy.

[Experiencing the integration between nursing teachers and nurses. A research project].

This article reports the integration experience between registered nurses and nurse educators in a teaching hospital. The study is a research with focus on the care significance to adult clients in a outpatient unit.

[The role of Doppler US in the study of carotid system].

Color Doppler US is at present the most reliable noninvasive procedure in the diagnosis of carotid disease and plays a major diagnostic role in the patient at risk for stroke. The anatomofunctional relationships of carotid and vertebrobasilar system suggest a diagnostic combination between Doppler US and transcranial Doppler for complete hemodynamic evaluation of normal and pathologic cerebral vessels. The most relevant disease, as the cause of stroke, is represented by internal carotid atherosclerosis.

[Cerebral magnetic resonance in Wilson's disease].

The authors describe the typical and atypical MR findings of brain abnormalities in Wilson's disease in three patients affected with severe neurologic disturbances; a low-field MR unit was used. Radiologic findings included atrophic changes and focal lesions. Two patients had basal ganglia, brain stem and dentate alterations; lesions in the corpus callosum (a site not yet described in Wilson's disease) were seen.

[Fibrous dysplasia of the skull. Radiologic diagnosis].

The authors examined 11 patients with fibrous dysplasia of the skull pointing out its radiologic features and preferential sites. Conventional radiology, CT and MR imaging were used. As for conventional radiology, tangential scans which of great value to depict the most typical morphologic patterns.

[Changes in the cranio-cervical junction in Down's syndrome].

Twenty-eight subjects with Down syndrome, 9-29 years old, were examined for instability of the cervical spine at the atlanto-axial and atlanto-occipital joints. This region was studied by evaluating the atlanto-odontoid space and the basilar line both in neutral position and during functional movements. Two patients (7.