Maternal and perinatal outcomes in spontaneous versus assisted conception twin pregnancies.

Objective: To compare maternal and perinatal outcomes in twin pregnancies conceived via assisted reproductive techniques (ART) compared with spontaneous twin pregnancies.

Study Design: This retrospective study examined 345 dichorionic, di-amniotic twin pregnancies (207 conceived spontaneously and 138 conceived via ART), delivered between January 2007 and June 2011 at the San Pietro Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Rome, a tertiary medical centre. Maternal and perinatal outcomes were compared.

Clinical delineation of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in Italian children: comparison and contrast with other racial/ethnic groups and implications for diagnosis and prevention.

In Italy, little is known about the spectrum of adverse fetal effects related to maternal alcohol use during pregnancy. In this paper, we report on the phenotype of Italian children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). These data were gathered as part of a field study assessing the prevalence of FASD in children in an in-school study in a rural area near Rome.

Diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide in children with type 1 diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis: Few data are available on lung dysfunction in children with diabetes. We studied the association of pulmonary function variables (flows, volumes and alveolar capillary diffusion) with disease-related variables in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: We studied 39 children with type 1 diabetes (mean age 10.

Off-label and non-classical prescriptions of antipsychotic agents in ordinary in-patient practice.

Objective: To estimate the proportion of off-label prescriptions of antipsychotics (APs) in ordinary in-patient practice.

Method: From the South-Verona Psychiatric Case Register all admissions to the in-patient unit during 2001-02 were extracted. Prescriptions of APs were defined off-label when dispensed outside the licensed indications.

Reliability of procalcitonin concentrations for the diagnosis of sepsis in critically ill neonates.

We evaluated the reliability of serum concentrations of procalcitonin for the diagnosis of early- and late-onset sepsis in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) setting. Timed procalcitonin determinations were prospectively obtained during two postnatal periods: 0-48 hours of age (period 1) and 3-30 days of age (period 2). In period 1, we measured procalcitonin concentrations in 83 healthy newborns (group 0) and in 120 NICU patients (14 with culture-proven sepsis, group 1A; 14 with clinical septicemia, group 1B; 75 with no evidence of infection, group 2; and 17 with uncertain findings, group 3).

Interleukin 6 in neonates with early and late onset infection.

Objective: To assess the utility of determining interleukin 6 (IL-6) concentrations for diagnosing early (< or = 48 h of life) and late onset infection in a neonatal intensive care setting.

Methods: We measured serum IL-6 values in five groups of neonates on both postnatal Days 1 and 2 (early sampling): Group 1, patients with clinical and microbiologic evidence of early onset infection; Group 2, patients with negative body fluid cultures but strong evidence of infection (clinical septicemia); Group 3, patients without clinical and microbiologic evidence of infection; Group 4, patients in whom infection could be neither confirmed nor excluded; and Group 5, healthy neonates with a normal postnatal course. We also measured IL-6 values in older neonates who during their hospital stay developed systemic infection (late sampling).

Temporal and geographical trends of anti-HIV-1 antibodies screening among newborns in Italy, 1990-1993. Italian Collaborative Study Group for HIV Prevalence in Newborns.

To describe the dynamic of HIV-1 prevalence in Italian childbearing women and to estimate the future incidence of pediatric AIDS due to vertical transmission, dried-blood specimens collected from a consecutive sample of newborns in all Italian regions were examined for the presence of anti-HIV-1 antibodies (HIV-Ab) after the routine neonatal screening program was completed. Of 555,722 blood samples collected and examined for HIV-Ab between 1990 and 1993, 550 (0.099%) were positive.

Anti-HIV 1 antibodies prevalence in parturients through newborn testing: results of the Italian anonymous serosurvey. The Italian Collaborative Study Group of HIV Prevalence in Newborns.

A prevalence assessment of HIV infection among parturients was performed in order to estimate the future incidence of pediatric AIDS cases and obtain data on the trend of the infection in Italy. Consecutive whole blood samples from newborns collected on filter paper from all regions of Italy (October-December 1990) for routine metabolic screenings, were anonymously examined for HIV-1 antibodies by an ELISA technique. Positive results were confirmed by Western blot.

Antibody production in infants born to HIV-1-infected mothers.

Naturally occurring antibodies to polysaccharide antigens of pathogens commonly isolated from HIV-1-infected subjects were analyzed in serially collected sera of children born to seropositive mothers. Purified polysaccharides from type 14 Streptococcus pneumoniae, group C Neisseria meningitidis, type b Haemophilus influenzae, glucomannoprotein from Candida albicans and diphtheria toxoid antigens were used in an ELISA test to assess antibody levels. A significant rise of anti-pneumococcus antibody titres was noticed both in HIV-1-infected and in non-HIV-1-infected children aged 18 months or more.

Blind serosurvey of HIV antibodies in newborns in 92 Italian hospitals: a method for monitoring the infection rate in women at time of delivery.

In Italy, drug abusers are the major risk category for HIV infection, representing 67% of all the reported cases of AIDS. This can in part explain the higher incidence of the infection observed in Italian females (17.7%) in comparison with the data reported in Europe (11.

Clonal dominance among T-lymphocyte infiltrates in arthritis.

Synovial membranes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis as well as other types of chronic destructive inflammatory arthritis contain infiltrates of activated T lymphocytes that probably contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease. In an effort to elucidate the nature of these infiltrates, interleukin 2 (IL-2)-responsive T lymphocytes were grown out of synovial fragments from 14 patients undergoing surgery for advanced destructive inflammatory joint disease. Eleven of the samples examined were from patients with classical rheumatoid arthritis, while three others were obtained from individuals with clinical osteoarthritis.

Prenatal exclusion of purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency.

We report on the prenatal exclusion of purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) deficiency in a fetus whose parents were known to be heterozygotes for the enzyme defect. Prenatal investigation was performed in the 16th week of gestation on amniotic fluid and cultured amnion cells using sensitive techniques. The results suggested that the fetus was either normal or a heterozygote.

Immunologic follow-up of infants treated with granulocyte transfusion for neonatal sepsis.

The immunologic status and the occurrence of alloimmunization against granulocytes, platelets, lymphocytes, and red cells was evaluated in 33 babies who received granulocyte transfusion because of neonatal sepsis. Nine age-matched babies were examined as control. A first group of 19 infants was examined only once between 6 and 23 months of age.

[Potentials and limitations of viscometry in hemorheological studies].

The problems of viscometric studies are discussed in depth on the basis of the most recent advances in hemorheology. We present here our contribution to the solution of numerous methodological problems. Particular emphasis was set on the problem of optimization and standardization of viscometric techniques for the study of erythrocyte deformation and aggregation.