1,720,980 research outputs found
The endocrine evaluation of adolescents with varicocele (la valutazione endocrinologica del varicocele in età adolescenziale)
No full textlinee guida per il trattamento del varicocel
idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty (ICPP) and Maternal Attachment Security
No full textBackground: Life-history theorie of early programming of human reproductive strategy stipulates that early rearing experience, including that reflected in infant-parent attachment security, regulates psycological, behavioral and reproductive development. Results revealed that individuals who had been insecure infants initiated and completed pubertal development earlier compared with individuals who had been secure infants.
Objective: The aim of our study is to assess maternal attachment styles in adult patients with a history of treated ICPP, compared to healthy control group, and to consider how the degree of security-insecurity of this relationship may predict pubertal development.
Methods: We selected 15 patients with a history of ICPP (range 14-24 years) and a control group of 15 healthy girls (range 14-26 years). The attachment style and separation anxiety of all these subjects were tested with Separation Anxiety Test (SAT), a semi-projective test for images, in the version modified by Grazia Attili.
Results: 53,3% (N=8) of patients treated for ICPP had a secure attachment style, 26.7% (N=4) had an insecure-avoidant attachment and 20% (N=3) insecure-ambivalent attachment. Of the 15 healthy controls, 66.7% (N=10) had a secure attachment, 26.7% (N=4) insecure-avoidant and 6.6% (N=1) insecure-ambivalent. Girls with a history of ICPP exhibit a maternal attachment definitely more insecure compared to girls with normal pubertal development (47% vs 33%).
Conclusions: These results showed that girls with a history of ICPP have maternal attachment style generally more insecure than the healthy population. Our data, despite the small size of sample, support a conditional-adaptational view of individual differences in attachment security and raise questions about the role of the maternal care, the quality experience of detachment and the rapprochement act during the first months of life on the biological mechanisms responsible for the precocious pubertal development
Significant association among growing pains, vitamin D supplementation, and bone mineral status: results from a pilot cohort study.
No full textThe aim of our study was to analyze the possible relationship between growing pains, vitamin D levels, and bone mineral status. We enrolled 33 children affected by growing pains. Their pain intensity was evaluated through a questionnaire using the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale for pain assessment. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D), parathyroid hormone (PTH), and alkaline phosphatase levels were measured as well. A quantitative ultrasound assessment (QUS) was also done, measuring both the amplitude-dependent speed of sound (AD-SOS) and the bone transmission time (BTT), correlating, respectively, with bone density and with cortical thickness. After 3 and 24 months of vitamin D supplementation, we re-evaluated pain intensity and laboratory results. After 24 months we re-assessed QUS parameters. At the beginning of the study the children reported a mean growing pain intensity of 7.5 ± 1.6 SD. The mean values of 25-OH-D and PTH levels were 15.7 ± 6.9 ng/ml and 57.3 ± 27.3 pg/ml, respectively. The AD-SOS Z score was -0.53 ± 1.19 SD, and the mean value of the BTT Z score was -0.72 ± 0.96 SD. After the first 3 months of vitamin D supplementation we observed an increase in 25-OH-D levels (34.1 ± 17.8, p < 0.001) and a reduction in both PTH levels (47.3 ± 30.6, p = 0.135) and pain intensity (2.7 ± 2.2, p < 0.001). After 24 months we observed a further significant reduction in the pain intensity (3.9 ± 3.4, p < 0.001) and in PTH levels (43.7 ± 28.5, p = 0.004) and an improvement in the QUS parameters, in particular in BTT Z scores (p = 0.014). Our study suggests an interesting relationship between growing pains, vitamin D levels and bone mineral status
Salute riproduttiva e sviluppo puberale nei deficit nutrizionali e nei disturbi del comportamento alimentare (DCA)
No full textReview con lo scopo di discutere gli effetti del DCA insorto in età adolescenziale sul sistema endocrino e sulla salute riproduttiv
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Growth Hormone Deficiency and Lysinuric Protein Intolerance: Case Report and Review of the Literature
No full textBackground: Lysinuric protein intolerance (LPI; MIM# 222700) is a rare metabolic disorder caused by a defective cationic amino acids (CAA) membrane transport leading to decreased circulating plasma CAA levels and resulting in dysfunction of the urea cycle. Short stature is commonly observed in children with LPI and has been associated with protein malnutrition. A correlation between LPI and growth hormone deficiency (GHD) has also been postulated because of the known interaction between the AA arginine, ornithine, and lysine and growth hormone (GH) secretion. Our report describes a case of GHD in an LPI patient, who has not presented a significant increase in growth velocity with recombinant-human GH (rhGH) therapy, suggesting some possible pathogenic mechanisms of growth failure. Case Presentation: The proband was a 6-year-old boy, diagnosed as suffering from LPI, erythrophagocytosis (HP) in bone marrow, and short stature. Two GH provocative tests revealed GHD. The patient started rhGH therapy and a controlled-protein diet initially with supplementation of oral arginine and then of citrulline. At 3-year follow-up, no significant increase in growth velocity and in insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels was observed. Inadequate nutrition and low plasmatic levels of arginine, ornithine, lysine, and HP may have contributed to his poor growth. Conclusion: Our case suggests that growth failure in patients with GHD and LPI treated with rhGH could have a complex and multifactorial pathogenesis. Persistently low plasmatic levels of lysine, arginine, and ornithine, associated with dietary protein and caloric restriction and systemic inflammation, could determine a defect in coupling GH to IGF-1 production explaining why GH replacement therapy is not able to significantly improve growth impairment. We hypothesize that a better understanding of growth failure pathophysiology in these patients could lead to the development of more rational strategies to treat short stature in patients with LPI
Hypocalcemia following Neridronate Administration in Pediatric Patients with Osteogenesis Imperfecta: A Prospective Observational Study
No full textThe use of intravenous bisphosphonates has been linked to hypocalcemia both in children and adults with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). The aims of this study were: (1) to investigate the incidence of hypocalcemia in the first 48 hours (T48) after neridronate infusion in a pediatric population with OI and (2) to assess any correlation between the baseline values of calcium, vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) and bone turnover markers, and the postinfusion calcium values. We conducted a prospective observational study on 37 pediatric patients. All patients were treated with a single infusion of neridronate at a dose of 1 to 2 mg/kg. The study provided two postinfusion reassessments: 24 hours (T24) and T48 after neridronate administration. Hypocalcemia was observed in 11% of patients at T24 and in 50% of patients at T48 from neridronate infusion. We observed a positive linear correlation between the baseline vitamin D values and postinfusion calcium values, both at baseline and at T24 and T48. Hypocalcemia was mild and asymptomatic in all cases. Postinfusion calcium levels were related to baseline vitamin D levels. Consequently, low vitamin D levels should be considered a significant risk factor for hypocalcemia and should be carefully investigated and treated before neridronate infusion
Hypercalciuria and renal function and in children affected by osteogenesis imperfecta
No full textBackground: Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is an heterogeneous group of inherited disorders of connective tissue characterized by bone fragility, reduced bone mass, laxity of ligaments, blue sclera and different levels of low stature. Hypercalciuria is a condition characterized by an increased urinary calcium without hypercalcemia. It is characterized by an urinary calcium excretion >4mg/kg/die or urinary Ca/Cr ratio >0,21. The relation between hypercalciuria and OI had been already analyzed in several studies.
Objective: The aim of this study is to observe the incidence of hypercalciuria among patients affected by OI and the possible correlation with the severity of the underneath condition. We also want to verify the presence of any kidney damage related with the increased urinary calcium or with the ongoing treatment with bisphosphonates.
Methods: We have recruited 36 patients, followed at our clinic, treated with bisphosphonates. We collected, in a period of 3 months (T0-T1), auxological, clinical and laboratory parameters. All patients performed an abdominal ultrasound.
Results: Through urinary Ca/Cr ratio we have identified 11 hypercalciuric patients in T0, 15 in T1. We didn’t found any alterations in kidney function both in biochemical and in imaging data. But estimating the urinary calcium in mg/kg/die in T1, we’ve also observed that hypercalciuric patients were only 6.
Conclusion: We haven’t found correlation between hypercalciuria and severity of OI. Urinary Ca/Cr ratio is not specific enough to detect hypercalciuria in our patients, maybe because of low creatinine levels as a consequence of OI. It is important, in these children, to integrate Calcium and Vitamin D. Hypercalciuria and the treatment with bisphosphonates do not cause any significant kidney alteration. The next studies with DXA are going to make a better evaluation of the influence of hypercalciuria on bones of patients affected by OI
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