[Obesity and cardiac cachexia in chronic heart failure]. / Adipositas und kardiale Kachexie bei chronischer Herzinsuffizienz.

Obesity as well as cardiac cachexia in heart failure patients are not fully understood and therefore of high scientific interest. Obesity as a common risk factor for cardiovascular disease is associated with a high mortality. In contrast obesity in patients suffering from chronic heart failure seems to be accompanied with a favorable outcome in contrast to people with normal weight, known as the obesity paradox. In the last decade there has been growing interest in cachexia, which is common in advanced stages of chronic diseases, such as heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer and renal failure and is associated with a poor prognosis. Until now cachexia has been underdiagnosed and undertreated. This review discusses the complex underlying pathomechanisms as well as potential therapeutic approaches.

Synthesis of 2-[1,2-dihydropyrazol-4-yl]-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives as potential antimicrobial agents.

The synthesis of some 2-[1,2-dihydropyrazol-4-yl]-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives is performed by reacting 4-dithiocarboxylic acid hydrazides of 3-amino-1,2-dihydro-5H-pyrazol-5-one and 3-amino-1,2-dihydro-1-methyl-5H-pyrazol-5-one with carboxylic acid derivatives. The unusual behaviour of 3-amino-1,2-dihydro-1-methyl-5H-pyrazol-5-one towards acetylating agents is described. The antimicrobial activity of some 2-[1,2-dihydropyrazol-4-yl]-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives is tested in a preliminary screening.

Synthesis of 3-(1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)pyrazolo[1,5-a] pyrimidine derivatives as potential antimicrobial agents.

The synthesis of some 3-(1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)pyrazolo[1,5-a]-pyrimidine derivatives is performed by reacting 2-(3-amino-1,2-dihydro-5-oxo-5H-pyrazol-4-il)-1,3,4- thiadiazoles with 2,4-pentanedione, ethyl 3-oxobutyrate and diethyl ethoxymethylenemalonate. The antimicrobial activity of the synthesized compounds is reported.

[Some derivatives of the 2-[4-pyrazolinyl]-1,3,4-thiadiazole system]. / Su alcuni derivati del sistema 2-[4-pirazolinil]-1,3,4-tiadiazolico.

The synthesis of some 2-[5-amino-1-methyl-3-oxo-4-pyrazolynyl]-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives is accomplished by reacting 5-amino-1-methyl-3-oxopryrazolynyl-4-dithiocarbohydrazide with carboxylic acid derivatives. The structure of the compounds obtained is verified by means of 1H and 13C-N.M.R. spectra. Antimicrobial and antifungal activity of some of the described compounds was tested in a preliminary screening.

[Xeroradiography in nasal bones fractures (author's transl)]. / L'indagine xeroradiografica nelle fratture delle ossa del naso.

Traumatic lesions of nasal bones were investigated by xerography in 44 patients. "Negative", rather than "positive", method is preferred. Soft tissues can be accurately inspected too; these lesions can exactly evaluated and possible contraindications to surgical reduction of such fractures are easily detected.

[Studies of myocardial metabolism using P-31-NMR spectroscopy and a simple heart perfusion model of slaughtered animals--an approach to avoiding in vivo animal experiments]. / Myokard-Stoffwechseluntersuchungen mit der P-31-NMR-Spektroskopie und einem einfachen Herz-Perfusionsmodell von Schlachttieren--ein Ansatz zur Vermeidung von In-vivo-Tierexperimenten.

In research cardiology large numbers of in vivo animal experiments, mostly with dogs or pigs, are necessary. It was the aim of this study to test a simple in vitro perfusion heart model from swine harvested in the slaughterhouse as a potential substitute for in vivo animal studies. 32 unselected hearts of slaughterhouse swine after 10 to 15 min of warm ischemia were subjected to reperfusion with warm oxygenized blood and were examined for mechanical recovery, which occurred in 56%, increasing to 95% if primarily using only hearts that were in relaxation. In 21 of selected relaxed heart models the energy phosphate pattern as an index of viability was measured by P-31 MRS on a 4.7 Tesla NMR tomograph in 37 experimental runs with the following perfusion protocols: 1) immediate cardioplegia with cold Bretschneider or Collins solution, transportation under cooling, MRS after approximately 1 h; 2) immediate cardioplegia, transportation, reperfusion with oxygenated warm blood, MRS; 3) immediate blood perfusion with genuine fresh arterial blood from the slaughterhouse, cold plegia perfusion, transportation, MRS; 4) immediate blood perfusion with transportation MRS; 4) immediate blood perfusion with genuinefresh arterial blood, cold plegia perfusion, transportation, reperfusion with oxygenated warm blood, MRS during reperfusion; 5) An experimental pig heart was made plegic in vivo and reperfused with oxygenated warm blood during MRS as reference.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Preoperative staging of rectal carcinoma by transrectal echography combined with pelvic computerized tomography]. / Staging preoperatorio del carcinoma rettale tramite ecografia transrettale associata a tomografia computerizzata della pelvi.

The accurate staging of rectal carcinoma is very important for treatment planning. The histological data obtained from the surgical specimens of 22 patients with rectal carcinoma were compared with pre- and postoperative endorectal US findings and with preoperative CT results. According to an adapted version of the Astler and Coller classification, the different degrees of tumor spread into the rectal wall were represented as follows: stage A: 1 patient; stage B1: 5 patients; stage B2: 6 patients; stage C1: 1 patient; stage C2: 8 patients and stage D: 1 patient. Preoperative staging, based on the overall results of CT and US, was in agreement with histology in 19 of 22 cases. Individual analysis of US and CT results, in comparison with histological data, showed US staging accuracy to be 77.3% (17/22 patients). US accuracy in demonstrating tumor spread into the rectal wall (stages A, B1, C1) was 100% (7/7 patients); US was 70% accurate in lymph node detection (7/10 patients) and 93.3% accurate in demonstrating perirectal infiltration (14/15 patients). CT diagnostic accuracy was 66.7% (10/15 patients) in the evaluation of perirectal lymph nodes, but tumor spread into the rectal wall (stages A and B1) could not be evaluated. While admitting the primary role of US in the staging of rectal carcinoma, according to our results a combination of US and CT yields a more accurate preoperative diagnostic picture.