Novel "Matrix-Corrected Calibration" study for the detection of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in plasma and erythrocytes by means of a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry approach optimized to follow up long-term parental patients.

An accurate and specific gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was optimized to quantify specific polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in plasma and in erythrocyte membranes for clinical purposes. The developed and fully-validated method showed optimal linearity in addition to adequate results in terms of accuracy, intra-day and inter-day precision. By adopting the Matrix-Corrected Calibration approach on all the biological matrices tested, both the constant and the proportional errors of the developed analytical methodology were considered to assure that the method was not affected by matrix bias.

[Risk/benefit profile of hormone replacement therapy in postmenopause. From research to practice].

The menopause has been transformed from a marginal subject to a central event of medical interest. The gap between evidence derived from epidemiological research and clinical practice seems to be wider in post-menopausal area than in other fields. Most of the evidence were obtained from observational epidemiological studies and only in part from randomized clinical trials.

Sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method with fluorescence detection for measurement of vinorelbine plasma concentrations.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with fluorescence detection for the determination of vinorelbine in plasma is described. The technique was derived from that published by Debal for an assay of vinorelbine in cell culture medium. The modifications concern the preparation procedure for plasma samples (a two-step liquid-liquid extraction from plasma is described), optimization of the mobile phase composition, and use of a single C18 column.

[Psychological characteristics of patients with infarction: results of the GISSI-2. Italian Group for the Study of Survival in Myocardial Infarction (GISSI)].

Objective: To provide a thorough psychological examination of patients with documented myocardial infarction (MI) enrolled in a multicenter randomized clinical trial (GISSI-2). The psychosocial variables examined include: state variables (anxiety, health-related fears, depression), psychophysical well-being in the three months preceding the acute event (depressive mood, impaired sense of well-being, perceived stress) and trait variables (Type-A Behavior (TAB), neuroticism, introversion/extroversion, social anxiety and feelings of guilt in interpersonal relationships).

Population And Setting: A total of 2705 patients (12.

Appropriateness and variation of surgical treatment of breast cancer in Italy: when excellence in clinical research does not match with generalized good quality care. Progetto Oncologia Femminile.

To assess appropriateness of surgical care delivered to breast cancer patients in Italy and quantify the use of unnecessary radical procedures, a retrospective charts review of patients treated in 1988-1989 was conducted. A series of 1724 consecutive patients (median age 61 years; range 17-89) treated in 63 hospitals selected from within 8 regions with newly diagnosed operable breast carcinoma was evaluated. Overall, 541 (38%) patients had inappropriate surgery with more than two thirds of it being accounted for by the use of unnecessary mutilating Halsted mastectomy.

[Can the changes in dietary fat intake reduce the risk of onset and development of atherosclerosis and of ischemic cardiopathy in particular?].

In this review we have collected data from epidemiologic studies and clinical trials published from 1968 to 1989 on the relationship between dietary fat and risk of coronary heart disease. Although the reported observational studies of diet and coronary heart disease provide general support for the classic diet-heart hypothesis, evidence of specific dietary lipids is weak. A positive association with saturated fat intake was seen in two prospective studies.