ABSTRACT
The aim of the present study is to investigate cancer mortality and residence in the neighbourhood of the petrochemical plant located in Brindisi, South-eastern Italy. Cases were all subjects resident in Brindisi and in three neighbouring municipalities who died in the study area in 1996-1997 from lung cancer, pleural neoplasm, bladder cancer and lymphohematopoietic malignancies. Controls were subjects resident in the same area and deceased in 1996-1997 for any cause except those listed for the cases. Next of kin's of all study subjects were visited by an interviewer who collected anamnestic information. The main residence of each subject, defined as the longest held residence with exclusion of the last 10 years, was reported on a digitalized map of the study area (MapInfo). The study included 144 cases and 176 controls; response rate was 98%. Residence within 2 km from the centre of the petrochemical plant was associated with a 3 fold increase of the Odds ratios (OR) for lung cancer, which did not reach statistical significance. Living close to the petrochemical plant was associated with moderate increases of OR for bladder cancer and lymphohematopoietic neoplasms which did not reach statistical significance. In conclusion the present study has shown moderate increases in risk for lung, bladder and lymphohematopoietic neoplasms in the population resident within 2 km from the centre of the petrochemical plant in Brindisi. These figures were confirmed after adjusting for smoking habit, occupation and school level. Random misclassification may have somehow resulted in risk underestimation.
Subject(s)
Chemical Industry , Environmental Exposure/adverse effects , Hazardous Substances/toxicity , Neoplasms/chemically induced , Neoplasms/mortality , Residence Characteristics/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Aged , Case-Control Studies , Cause of Death , Female , Hematologic Neoplasms/chemically induced , Hematologic Neoplasms/mortality , Humans , Incidence , Italy/epidemiology , Lung Neoplasms/chemically induced , Lung Neoplasms/mortality , Lymphoma/chemically induced , Lymphoma/mortality , Male , Middle Aged , Models, Statistical , Odds Ratio , Pleural Neoplasms/chemically induced , Pleural Neoplasms/mortality , Risk Assessment , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/chemically induced , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/mortalityABSTRACT
The diagnostic potential of Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) is well established in patients with suspicion for some life-threatening diseases as cardiogenic cerebral embolization, aortic dissection, intracardiac or thoracic masses, acute valvular dysfunction or sepsis of undetermined origin, which represent a relevant part in the activity of Intensive Care Units (ICU). Thus, an increasing role of TEE may be foreseen in this arena, also due to some of the known odds of ultrasound techniques compared to other imaging tools like CT scan or MRI (lower cost and beside availability). The aim of the present paper is to briefly review the main indications for TEE in ICU, and to report on some illustrative cases from our experience of I year in this field. Twenty-eight seriously-ill patients referred to our ICU between December 1991 and December 1992 were investigated for 1 of the following diagnostic problems: a) chest trauma with suspicion for aortic dissection and/or mediastinal bleeding; b) sepsis of undetermined origin; c) cerebral transient ischemic attack or stroke; d) assessment of cardiac function in potential heart donors. TEE was performed by means of commercially available instruments (either Hp Sonos 1500 or Esaote Sim 7000 Color Flow Mapping), with conventional monoplane probe or so-called wide-angle, "panoramic" probe, respectively. In most of the patients studied, TEE provided either unique or complementary, diagnostically useful, information. By panoramic approach, which yields imaging field up to 270 degrees, a comprehensive visualization of the heart, aorta and mediastinal structures was possible.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
