[Quantitative and functional assay of AT III in neoplastic pathology]. / Aspetto quantitativo e funzionale dell'AT III nella patologia neoplastica.

Our study compares the results obtained through the assay of AT III following two methods, the functional and the immunological one, carried out on plasma of 222 patients affected with solid malignant neoplasia. The purpose of our research was to examine the behaviour of AT III, a protein having a peculiar function in the complex coagulation mechanism. At least among healthy people, this function was and is correlated to its blood concentration. All examined subjects suffered from solid malignant neoplasia either of the respiratory tract or gastro-intestinal tract or sexual organs or urinary tract. From our research patients with liver neoplasia diagnosis have been excluded since the cancer seat might have significant implications on the genesis of coagulation factors and therefore on AT III itself. The age of patients as well as controls - formed by 100 clinically healthy donors-ranged between 30 and 70. At the very beginning patients were divided into groups according to the basic pathology (cancer seat) but then, since no great differences were noted between the groups, all patients were examined irrespective of the type and seat of neoplasia. The followed methods are: a functional method which tends to measure the total AT III capacity assay acting in enzyme excess. S 2238 (Kabi) being the chromogene substratum used; an immunological method which tends to measure the molecule blood concentration taking advantage of its antigenic properties. While on one hand the obtained results have shown a good correlation between the two methods in controls i.c. healthy subjects, on the other hand a significant difference has been noted between the AT III activity and its blood concentration in non healthy subjects as if to prove the interference of neoplasia in the blood coagulation process. In the patients affected with neoplasia the functional as well as the quantitative aspect - which can be considered synonyms in healthy subjects being the one indicative of the other - show that the delicate balance on which the coagulation mechanism is based has been upset.

[Blood coagulation in 222 cases of solid malignant neoplasms]. / Assetto emocoagulativo in 222 casi di neoplasia maligna solida.

We have examined 222 patients with nonterminal solid malignant tumors in order to study the possible variations on the hemocoagulation system due to neoplasia. Only patients whose hemocoagulation system could be proven normal by test made before the malignant neoplasia appeared were taken into consideration. Our study was based on the following tests: platelet count, platelet adhesiveness and aggregation, prothrombin time, thrombin time, thrombotest, antithrombin 3, thrombin-coagulase, activity partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, reptilase time. Our study showed there was no relevant difference between the results tests of healthy people taken as points or reference and those of our patients. We did find however a slight but diffuse alteration of all, or almost all, the components of the hemostatic and coagulation system. These variations however were not significant enough to enable us to prove any connection between the neoplasia and the whole hemocoagulation system.

[Contribution of clinical, biohumoral, morphological and instrumental parameters to the diagnosis of some chronic liver diseases]. / Apporto dei parametri clinici, bioumorali, morfologici e strumentali alla diagnostica di alcune epatopatie croniche

A comparative study concerning the diagnostic importance of clinical, humoral, morphological and instrumental parameters had been carried out on 105 patients affected by chronic liver disease (51 cases with liver cirrhosis, 15 with metastatic tumors, 10 with liver steatosis and 29 with chronic hepatitis). The final diagnosis of the patients used for the comparison was formulated considering the greatest numbers of data. The results of this study can be drawn as follows: --clinical and laboratory data show satisfactory diagnostic value principally in patients suffering from liver cirrhosis (90 per ceny) and metastatic tumors (93 per cent); --peritoneoscopy appears to be generally the most useful procedure with the most significance value above all in cirrhotic patients; --morphological examination in biopsy specimen results of the greatest importance in patients affected by chronic hepatitis and hepatosteatosis while rather high has been the percentage of false negatives in secondary tumors of the liver (40 per cent) and cirrhosis (68 per cent); --scintiphotoscanning is generally less useful as a diagnostic tool than peritoneoscopy a part of the cases of metastatic tumors. In such a condition the diagnostic power of both the procedures results to be identical; --it may be concluded that an integrating diagnostic information generally results to be the most precise and maximally capable of reducing the number of false negatives. In individual cases, of course, the less important procedure shows to have the maximum of diagnostic capacity.