Giant coronary artery aneurysm in association with systemic arterial ectasia. A case report.

Since the advent of coronary angiography, coronary artery aneurysm has been diagnosed with increased frequency. The etiology of coronary artery aneurysm is atherosclerosis in 50%, followed by other causes. In a 71-year-old man with previously documented abdominal aortic aneurysm of 6 cm diameter and ectasia of both left and right middle cerebral arteries, thoracic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated a large hollow para-cardiac mass (maximum diameter of 7 cm) lying in the anterior-lateral part of the atrio-ventricular sulcus.

[Histogenic characterization of the cells forming RA pannus].

Objective: This work aims to clarify the histogenesis of the cells forming RA pannus: the pannocytes.

Methods: 15 patients with seropositive RA; 5 controls with post-traumatic knee effusion and 5 with OA knee effusion were included in the study. Synovial tissues and fluids, collected during diagnostic arthrocentesis, were used as a source of cells to be cultured.

Arthropathies and thyroid diseases.

Aim: Improvement of articular symptoms following thyroidectomy has often been observed in patients with an association of thyroid and joint diseases. An assessment has therefore been made of the types of arthropathy thus benefited and the anatomopathological features of the thyroid in patients with concomitant joint diseases. An account is given of the arthropathies associated with nontoxic nodular goitre (NTG).

Evidence for a positive correlation between serum cortisol levels and IL-1beta production by peripheral mononuclear cells in anorexia nervosa.

A hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been reported in anorexia nervosa (AN), together with some immunological abnormalities, involving citokine - and particularly Tumor Necrosis-Factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) - production by polymorphonuclear cells. The ability of pro-inflammatory cytokines to activate the HPA axis is well known; however, there are no data demonstrating an interdependence between immunological and endocrine response in AN. To investigate the presence of a correlation between immune response and pituitary-adrenal function, plasma ACTH and serum cortisol concentrations were measured in 13 AN patients and in the same number of controls.

[Asymptomatic cholelithiasis: indications for cholecystectomy based on the levels of acute phase proteins].

Prophylactic cholecystectomy for asymptomatic gallstones is still controversial. Aim of the study was to assess whether the determination of serum acute phase proteins (APP) could be utilized as a criterion for cholecystectomy, as they are suggestive of the presence in the blood of cytokines released from the inflamed gallbladder wall, even when clinical signs are missing. In 75 cases of gallstones, free from other coexistent inflammatory processes, red cell sedimentation rate, plasmatic cortisol, immunoglobulin (IgA, IgG, IgM), electrophoresis of the proteins, CPR, fibrinogen, haptoglobin, alfa-1-antitrypsin and bile culture have been detected.

Identification and characterization of an active soluble form of human CD38 in normal and pathological fluids.

Human CD38 is a transmembrane glycoprotein involved in lymphocyte activation and adhesion to endothelium. The ectocellular domain of the molecule possesses properties of a bifunctional enzyme catalyzing both the synthesis from NAD+ and the hydrolysis of the calcium-releasing metabolite cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR). Surface expression of CD38 (mCD38) is rapidly and almost completely down-modulated upon ligation by specific mAb in cells from different lineages.

[Folate and vitamin B12 deficiency. Characterization of parameters for early diagnosis].

True vitamin B12/folate deficiency is more common than is currently appreciated; it appears in many guises and the classic hematological features of megaloblastic anaemia are often absent. The single most reliable predictor of megaloblastic anaemia is serum vitamin B12/folate concentration, but this determination in a screening program for all patients is difficult in terms of laboratory overload and cost. Early recognition of nutritional anaemias is, however, mandatory and we undertook this study to explore the possibility of identifying, on a demographic basis or because of routine laboratory results, a group of subjects at risk for vitamin B12/folate deficiency.

[Active immunoprophylaxis of type B viral hepatitis. Evaluation of the effectiveness of HEVAC-B vaccine in a population at risk].

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the commonest cause of liver disease world-wide, with an estimated 200 million chronically infected individuals. The prevalence of HBV is particularly high in parts of Africa, Far East and South-East Asia. The worldwide distribution of HBV infection with the consequence of chronic liver disease and primary hepatocellular carcinoma implies the need for an efficient and safe vaccine.

[Rheumatoid arthritis. Considerations on a rational therapeutic strategy].

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a progressive disease of unknown aetiology which may be caused by faulty immune mechanisms. Early diagnosis and correct treatment can be extremely effective. Fast and lasting results can only be obtained by an appropriate combination of NSAID and DMARD drugs which both reduce subjective symptoms and halt the progression of the disease.

[Idiopathic adult pulmonary hemosiderosis: a new etiopathogenetic hypothesis].

IPH is an uncommon disease affecting mainly children and adults and has usually a poor prognosis. The basic pathogenesis of the disorder is unknown; many theories have been advanced, but none is proved. A case of IPH in a 35 years old male presenting the atypical feature of a myeloperoxidase deficiency is reported.

[Type B viral hepatitis. Recent findings].

The discovery of hepatitis B surface antigen by Blumberg in 1965 offered a specific marker that could readily be employed in the clinical, epidemiological and experimental investigation of type B viral hepatitis. It has since been followed by the continuous gathering of further knowledge concerning this disease. The morphology and immunological and biochemical features of virus B, the epidemiology and prevention of hepatitis B, and marker determination techniques are examined in an overview of the present situation.