Incidence and significance of organ-specific autoimmune disorders (clinical, latent or only autoantibodies) in patients with vitiligo.

The frequency of autoimmune disorders was determined in 373 vitiligo patients and in controls matched for sex, age and race. Vitiligo patients had an increased frequency of clinical autoimmune diseases of thyroid (7.5%), stomach (0.8%), parathyroid (1%), adrenal gland (1.3%). Vitiligo patients, without clinical signs of overt autoimmune diseases, also had a statistically significant increase in the frequency of gastric parietal cell (p less than 0.001), thyroid microsomal (p less than 0.05) and adrenal autoantibodies (p less than 0.05). This increased incidence of autoimmune manifestations was correlated with the duration of vitiligo. Furthermore in 94% of the patients with parietal cell autoantibodies a gastric biopsy showed atrophic gastritis. In addition, in 48% of the patients with thyroid microsomal autoantibodies and in 2 out of 6 patients with adrenal autoantibodies without overt diseases at the beginning of the study, the functional investigation of the target organs during the follow-up allowed the detection of the presence or that of the subsequent development of clinical or subclinical dysfunction.

Rheological and clotting changes in the immediate post-myocardial infarction period.

Several coagulative, fibrinolytic, and rheologic indices were studied in a large group of patients with acute myocardial infarction. The results were compared with those obtained in a normal control group. Changes of blood and plasma viscosity, fibrinogen, and fibrinolytic activity, compatible with a hypercoagulable state, were found in the immediate post-infarction period. However, elevated AT III levels as compared to control group were observed. This could be interpreted as a reactive response to the hypercoagulable state. Significant correlations could be observed between blood viscosity and Ht, plasma viscosity and fibrinogen, fibrinogen and fibrinolytic levels and between fibrinogen and ESR.

[Rheologic, coagulative parameters and study of fibrinolysis in patients with coronary heart disease before and after aorto-coronary by-pass (author's transl)]. / Parametri reologici, coagulativi e studio della fibrinolisi nei coronaropatici prima e dopo intervento di by-pass aorto-coronarico.

A study has been made of 31 patients with coronary heart disease where diagnosis had been clearly ascertained both from a clinical and strumental point of view. All patients had undergone aorto-coronary by-pass surgery. The controls of the parameters under observation (whole-blood and plasmatic viscosity, hematocrit, fibrinogen, euglobulin lysis, T protothrombin, T of partial thromboplastin, thromboelastogram antithrombin III, plasminogen, alfa2-macroglobulin and fractions C'3c, C'3c, C'4 of the complement) were carried out as follows: basic sample taken, I control (8th-10th day), II control (15th-20th day), III control (45th-50th day), IV control (85th-90th day) after surgical operation. A global examination of our results showed significant changes in the rheologic coagulative and fibrinolytic parameters after an aorto-coronary surgical operation. The slight tendency toward hypercoagulability met with in the basic blood sample (slight increase of whole-blood viscosity, hyperfibrinogenemy, inhibition of fibrinolytic activity) does not change significantly after surgical operation. This seems to indicate that the coronary by-pass does not in any way alter the evolution of arteriosclerosis.