[Familial occurrence of leukemia. Cytogenetic considerations apropos of 2 cases]. / Familiarità leucemica. Considerazioni citogenetiche a proposito di due casi.

The authors describe a case of family leukemia: an acute myeloid leukemia preceded by Pelger's anomaly in a 77 year old brother and a chronic myeloid leukemia chromosome Ph + in a 71 years old sister, sixteen years after the first one. The authors formulate a hypothesis that both haematologic diseases may have in common a mistake of transcription caused by an anomalous m RNA.

[Aneurysms of the abdominal aorta. Clinical evaluation and therapeutic criteria]. / Gli aneurismi dell'aorta addominale. Valutazione clinica e criteri terapeutici.

On the basis of their own experience and of the most recent acquisitions published in the literature, the authors report on aneurysms of the abdominal aorta which are observed with increasing frequency. After discussing the etiopathogenesis, they dwell on the principal clinical problems of the disease, especially those concerning early diagnosis. Thanks to new acquisitions in vascular surgery, early detection may in fact allow of highly satisfactory therapeutic results.

The effect of ketoconazole on sebum secretion in patients suffering from acne and seborrhoea.

Ketoconazole, an imidazolic antimycotic derivative, has proved to have an antiandrogenous effect, which may be observed to inhibit the adrenal and gonadal steroid synthesis. The authors wished to verify this effect of the drug in men and women suffering from acne and seborrhoea, conditions believed to indicate a heightened androgenous effect in the sebaceous gland. They aimed to do this by studying the cutaneous sebum, which is considered a reliable indirect indicator of androgenous activity. They found a statistically significant decrease in the rate of sebum production in all patients administered with a single daily oral dose of ketoconazole (200 mg). Moreover no untoward side-effects were reported. The anti-androgenous property of ketoconazole would therefore suggest that the drug could be proposed as a useful alternative in the treatment of acne and seborrhoea.

No effect of ketoconazole on thyroid function of normals and thyrotoxic patients.

To investigate a putative inhibitory effect of the antifungal agent ketoconazole on thyroid function, five patients with thyrotoxicosis and ten normal subjects were treated with ketoconazole at high doses (600 mg daily in three 200 mg oral doses) for four weeks. TSH, TT3, TT4FT3 and FT4 were measured before and after the end of treatment. In all of the normal subjects no significant modifications of circulating thyroid hormones and TSH were detected. In patients with thyrotoxicosis an increase of the levels of circulating thyroid hormones and a worsening of clinical signs were observed. However, this behaviour could not be related to an action of the drug since it not differ from the normal evolution of untreated hyperfunctional thyroid disease. These findings confirm the lack of any inhibitory effect of ketoconazole on the synthesis of thyroid hormones and thyroid function.

Clinical and hormonal effects of ketoconazole on hirsutism in women.

Twelve women affected by functional postpuberal hirsutism were administered daily with 400 mg of ketoconazole. A significant reduction in the levels of concentration of circulating androgens (T, DEA-S, D4) was observed. A rapid clinical improvement of hirsutism and acne was noted and was even appreciable after treatment had been completed. This study is a further confirmation of the prevalent antiandrogenic action of ketoconazole, seen in its inhibiting effect on steroid synthesis in the adrenal and gonadal glands, and as such indicates that this drug is a useful alternative treatment of hirsutism in women.

No effect of ketoconazole on thyroid function of normal subjects and hypothyroid patients.

To investigate a possible inhibitory effect of the antifungal agent ketoconazole on thyroid function, five patients with hypothyroidism and ten normal subjects were treated with ketoconazole at high doses (600 mg/daily in three 20-mg oral doses) for four weeks. The thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and also TT3, TT4, FT3 and FT4, were measured before and after the end of treatment. In all of the subjects of our study, both normal and hypothyroid patients no significant modifications of circulating thyroid hormones and TSH were detected. Both normal and hypothyroid subjects did not show clinical changes of thyroid function as compared with the basal condition. These findings do not support any inhibitory effect of ketoconazole on the synthesis of thyroid hormones and thyroid function.