ABSTRACT
7 patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) were subjected to an intensive course of intravenous (I.V.) cyclophosphamide (CY) therapy. All patients received induction therapy with 11 daily doses of 300 mg/m2 and then a single dose every six months for three years. After one year of follow-up all patients showed a decrease in relapse rate (0.57.57); in the two subsequent years of follow-up 2 patients showed a mild worsening while the others were clinically stable. As suggested by others, our results indicate that I.V. CY therapy may influence the clinical course of relapsing-remitting MS.
Subject(s)
Cyclophosphamide/therapeutic use , Multiple Sclerosis/drug therapy , Adolescent , Adult , Cyclophosphamide/adverse effects , Female , Humans , Injections, Intravenous , Male , Pilot Projects , RecurrenceSubject(s)
Alprazolam/therapeutic use , Amitriptyline/therapeutic use , Anxiety Disorders/drug therapy , Depressive Disorder/drug therapy , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Anxiety Disorders/complications , Clinical Trials as Topic , Depressive Disorder/complications , Double-Blind Method , Drug Evaluation , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Multicenter Studies as Topic , Random AllocationABSTRACT
Clinical and histopathological data of a patient affected by myotonic dystrophy (Steinert Disease) and multiple pilomatrixomas (calcifying epithelioma of Malherbe) are reported. This association has been previously reported in other 16 cases. The prevalence of pilomatricoma in myotonic dystrophy results much greater than in general population. This association affects females as well as males. This tumour, when associated with myotonic dystrophy, is more frequently multiple than single.
Subject(s)
Myotonic Dystrophy/complications , Neoplasms, Multiple Primary , Skin Neoplasms/complications , Adult , Female , Humans , Intellectual Disability/complications , Myotonic Dystrophy/genetics , Neoplasms, Multiple Primary/genetics , Skin Neoplasms/geneticsABSTRACT
We report the results of an epidemiologic study in the Municipality of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Central Italy, undertaken to estimate the prevalence rate of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). On December 31, 1984, the prevalence was 33.2 per 100,000 (34.2 when age and sex is standardized to the Italian population). In agreement with recent intensive surveys from different regions in the North and South of Italy, our data indicate that the prevalence of MS in Italy is higher than 30 per 100,000, and emphasize the importance of small population studies in the epidemiology of MS. Our findings suggest that in Italy the risk for MS is higher than recorded before.
Subject(s)
Multiple Sclerosis/epidemiology , Adult , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Italy , Male , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
Serial analyses of peripheral blood T-lymphocyte subsets were performed in 280 samples collected over a 27 months period from 14 multiple sclerosis patients. A significant decrease of T8+ cells was found in 47.1% (47/87) of blood samples collected within four weeks of onset of a relapse opposed to 2.1% (1/47) of samples collected during the four weeks before a relapse and to 3.4% (5/146) of those collected over four weeks after a relapse. Changes of T-cells subsets appear to correlate with disease activity, but normal findings observed before relapses suggest that the decrease of T8+ cells cannot be used as valid predictor of relapse.
