Prevalence of antibodies anti-Bartonella henselae in western Sicily: children, blood donors, and cats.

To evaluate seroprevalence of B. henselae infection both in Sicilian children and healthy blood donors. Furthermore, circulation of Bartonella in the natural reservoir was also studied.

New insight into immunity and immunopathology of Rickettsial diseases.

Human rickettsial diseases comprise a variety of clinical entities caused by microorganisms belonging to the genera Rickettsia, Orientia, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma. These microorganisms are characterized by a strictly intracellular location which has, for long, impaired their detailed study. In this paper, the critical steps taken by these microorganisms to play their pathogenic roles are discussed in detail on the basis of recent advances in our understanding of molecular Rickettsia-host interactions, preferential target cells, virulence mechanisms, three-dimensional structures of bacteria effector proteins, upstream signalling pathways and signal transduction systems, and modulation of gene expression.

Significance of persistence of antibodies against Leishmania infantum in Sicilian patients affected by acute visceral leishmaniasis.

The background of this article is as follows: Few data are available about the persistence of serum-specific IgG antibodies to L. infantum after acute VL. The objective of this article is to evaluate the persistence of antibodies against L.

Polymorphisms of cyclo-oxygenases and 5-lipo-oxygenase-activating protein are associated with chronic spontaneous urticaria and urinary leukotriene E4.

The mechanisms of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) continue to be unknown. Our working hypothesis is that polymorphisms of cyclo-oxygenases and 5-lipo-oxygenase-activating protein may be involved in the pathways leading to CSU. We examined five candidate polymorphisms of cyclo-oxygenases 1 and 2 and of 5-lipo-oxygenase-activating protein in 109 controls and in 94 CSU patients from Northern Italy.

Hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison of two different periods at the same center.

Aims: To analyze the main etiological factors and some clinical characteristics of patients with HCC at diagnosis and to compare them with those we described ten years ago.

Methods: 179 patients were included in Group 1, while 132 patients were included in Group 2. For all patients age, sex, serum markers of hepatitis B and C viruses, alcohol consumption, serum alpha feto-protein (AFP) levels and the main liver function parameters at HCC diagnosis were recorded.

Clinical importance of eosinophil count in nasal fluid in patients with allergic and non-allergic rhinitis.

Eosinophil count in nasal fluid (ECNF) was used to differentiate nasal pathologies. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and the area under the curve (AUC) were performed to evaluate the ECNF's accuracy in distinguishing allergic rhinitis (AR) from non-allergic rhinitis (NAR). We also evaluated the accuracy of ECNF in recognizing patients with mild and severe symptoms of rhinitis and patients with ineffective and effective clinical responses to antihistamines.

Evaluation of serum s-IgE/total IgE ratio in predicting clinical response to allergen-specific immunotherapy.

Background: To date, no predictive tests for the clinical response to allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASI) are available. Therefore an in vivo or in vitro test would be of great value.

Objective: We sought to evaluate pretreatment parameters used in diagnosing allergic rhinitis and determining serum specific IgE (s-IgE) levels, serum total IgE (t-IgE) levels, and blood eosinophil counts and to identify whether can be used to predict clinical improvement in monosensitized patients with allergic rhinitis with or without asthma treated with immunotherapy.

Isolation and characterization of Bartonella quintana from the parotid gland of an immunocompetent man.

We describe a case of the isolation of Bartonella quintana from the parotid gland of an apparently healthy man. Pathological examination showed intraparotid granulomatous abscessual lymphadenitis. Diagnosis was made on the basis of high titers of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antibodies and of culture isolation of a causative agent from parotid aspirate.

Chronic urticaria as a presenting symptom of Crohn's disease.

Clinical presentation of Crohn's disease (CD) may be variable according to the location and the intensity of the inflammation. Some patients may have atypical symptoms which could delay the diagnosis. We report the first case of chronic urticaria related to a subclinical, complicated CD.

[Abnormal liver function in brucellosis].

We assessed the prevalence of impaired liver function in 47 patients suffering from brucellosis consecutively admitted to our department over the last five years. Parameters of liver function and ultrasound of the upper abdomen were performed at entry and at the end of treatment. On admission, mean transaminase values were elevated and significantly higher than at recovery (p 0.

[Blood and urine chromium: compared values between chromium exposed workers and common people].

Aim of present study is the valutation and quantification of chromium in blood and urine. We compared 3 groups of persons formed by building workers, in particular masons, because cement contains potassium chromate that is dangerous for health, and by common people: urban population and outside the town population. In fact, exposure to CrVI risk is high for people who live near chromate industries.

Immunology of human rickettsial diseases.

Among human rickettsial diseases caused by micro-organisms of the genus Rickettsia (Order Rickettsiales; Family Rickettsiaceae), transmitted to human hosts through arthropod vectors, Mediterranean Spotted Fever, or Boutonneuse Fever, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever are considered to be important infectious diseases due to continued prevalence in the developed world, and potentially fatal outcome in severe cases. Proliferation of rickettsiae, at the site of the tick bite, results in focal epidermal and dermal necrosis (tache noire). Rickettsiae then spread via lymphatic vessels to the regional lymph nodes, and, via the bloodstream, to skin, brain, lungs, heart, liver, spleen and kidneys.

[Hyponatremia: etiopathogenetic observations in the personal experiences].

Aim: Hyponatremia, an electrolyte disturbance, can be due to loss of solutes or to an increase of ''free'' water concentration, predominantly caused by excessive antidiuretic hormone (ADH) secretion. When acute, hyponatremia is threatening, because it can cause cell swelling and severe neuromuscular symptoms (central pontine myelinolysis).

Methods: In a sample of 220 subjects with hyponatremia (123 males, 97 females) aged from 47 to 83, hospitalized in the Department of Clinic Medicines and Emergent Pathologies, from 2000 till today, age, serum and urinary sodium concentration, urine specific gravity, signs, symptoms and causes of electrolyte disturbance were evaluated.

[Organization of work, hardship at work, mobbing: new problem areas that must be considered by the competent doctor in formulating fitness evaluation].

In recent years, in addition to the more common occupational-health risks (chemical, physical, biological), increasing importance is given to psychological and psychosomatic illness as a result of malfunction in the organization of work: burn-out, mobbing, maladjustment at work. In order to be able to evaluate the influence of such phenomenon whilst judging fitness in some working realities in Sicily, 18 small, medium and large dimension companies with a total of 1413 employees were examined. The typology of the work embraced the industrial, health, information-technology, construction and telephony sectors.

[Analysis of accidents at work in building yards: correlation between risk and law defaults in yards of Palermo].

In the last years the building firm underwent real boom for investments and workers but not for safety measures. In the building sector there is a great accidents risks for falls from the top. The aim of present study is to analyze trend of accidents at work in building yards according to INAIL DATA and we will identify causes and risks then we will correlate these risks with frequent law defaults that we noticed in the province of Palermo.

[Work related diseases: assistance to delivery among obstetricians].

In the course of Sanitary Surveillance, a high incidence of pathologies of the superior limbs was encountered in a homogeneous group of midwives operating in the AOUP of Palermo. These findings induced the authors' starting a retrospective study aimed at understanding the possibility of correlation between work effected and damage to people, and geared at being able to frame the findings in the ambit of the related to occupational pathologies. It is a fact that the positions taken by midwives in the course of gynecological vaginal delivery, or those necessary to the maneuvers during childbirth, such as the lateral or the simple and/or exaggerated MacRoberts maneuver, require substantial overcharging of the spinal column and a significant engagement of the muscles of the upper limbs.

[Professional exposure to hardwood dusts in a group of Sicilian joiners].

Wood is a system of vegetable tissues chemically formed by biopolymers (90-99%) and phenolic substances, alkaloids, glucosides and saponins (1-10%). There are two botanical groups of wood: hardwood and softwood. Aim of present study was the research of possible work related diseases with professional exposure to hardwood about 25 joiners of Palermo in 2006; in fact wood dust inhalation is very dangerous for workers health because it is cancerogenous for nasal and paranasal sinus (1 IARC).

[The risk management in health personnel tuberculosis].

Within work environment and even more among health service areas, to deepen the monitoring efforts and awareness of the workers in order to accomplish a more effective and fast response against morbidity indexes and prevalence of tbc, constitute the necessary prerequisite for any subsequent action of prevention and control. On the other hand, one of the employer's obligations toward a health facility is to identify professionally exposed subjects (Legislative Decree 626/94 art.78), and perform risk assessment.

[Occupational exposure to environmental pollution: observational study about a newspaper-agents group].

Unlabelled: Environmental pollution constantly menaces urban people's health. This public-health question has a remarkable interest in occupational medicine, because some professions require operations outdoor for most of the day. Therefore airborne pollutants could be considered occupational risk factors.

Fever of unknown origin in a Mediterranean survey from a division of internal medicine: report of 91 cases during a 12-year-period (1991-2002).

Despite the availability of all advanced diagnostic tools, fever of unknown origin (FUO) remains a diagnostic challenge for physicians. The objective was to define, through a retrospective study, the categories of the diseases of Sicilian patients admitted at the Department of Clinical Medicine and Emerging Diseases, University of Palermo, Italy, for classical FUO. Using the registration system for patients admitted from 1991 to 2002, 508 charts of patients admitted because of fever were reviewed.

Leukotriene receptor antagonists in monotherapy or in combination with antihistamines in the treatment of chronic urticaria: a systematic review.

In vitro and in vivo clinical and experimental data have suggested that leukotrienes play a key role in inflammatory reactions of the skin. Antileukotriene drugs, ie, leukotriene receptor antagonists and synthesis inhibitors, are a class of anti-inflammatory drugs that have shown clinical efficacy in the management of asthma and in rhinitis with asthma. We searched MEDLINE database and carried out a manual search on journals specializing in allergy and dermatology for the use of antileukotriene drugs in urticaria.

Similarity and differences in elderly patients with fixed airflow obstruction by asthma and by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that elderly patients with fixed airflow obstruction can be affected by asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: We studied 49 consecutive elderly outpatients, presenting fixed airflow obstruction, by clinical history (smoking), pulmonary function tests, blood gas analysis, and induced sputum.

Results: The age was not different in patients with COPD (n=28) and asthma (n=21) (70.

[Observational study on a group of health care workers assigned to antiblastic drugs manipulation in three Sicilian hospitals].

Unlabelled: Neoplastic disease therapy problems, e.g. antiblastic drugs manipulation, is developing.

Immunopathology of leishmaniasis: an update.

Leishmaniasis represents a severe, increasing, public health problem. The perspective of its control is highly dependent on research progress, on therapeutic manipulations of the immune system, and on vaccine development. There is a correlation between the clinical outcome of Leishmania infection and the cytokine response profile.