Population study of the short tandem repeat polymorphisms HumTH01, HumvWA31, HumFESFPS and HumF13A01 in Sicily (Southern Italy)

Population genetic studies were carried out on randomly selected and unrelated healthy individuals from Sicily (n = 140–150 individuals) using the short tandem repeat (STR) systems HumTH01, HumvWA31, HumFESFPS and HumF13A01. After vertical electrophoresis on polyacrylamide denaturing gels 6 alleles could be identified for TH01, 9 for vWA31, 7 for FESFPS and 11 for F13A01. No significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg were observed. Received: 9 June 1997 / Received in revised form: 14 January 1998     

Analysis on sarcoglycans expression as markers of septic cardiomyopathy in sepsis-related death

International Journal of Legal Medicine - The post-mortem assessment of sepsis-related death can be carry out by many methods recently suggested as microbiological and biochemical investigations....     

Cross-Country Comparative Analysis of Legislation and Court Rulings in Wrongful Birth Actions

Negligent conduct by health care providers can result in medical malpractice injury sustained by parents denied their right to decide whether and when to have children. In this review of the international medicolegal literature, the authors present a comparative analysis of the law of medical negligence in this context and a discussion of the grounds for compensable injury resulting from medical error. The discussion is focused on the legal provisions for compensable injury awarded to the plaintiff (expectant mother, parents of the born child, and born child) and the types of injury various legal systems recognize in such cases. The aim of this article is to provide medical malpractice investigators and legal professionals with an overview of the birth cases.     

Aorto-esophageal fistula caused by foreign body

Aortoesophageal fistula is a rare but fatal cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. AEF develop progressively from the esophageal perforation caused by foreign body. Clinically, there is a medial chest pain, followed by hematemesis and finally terminal exsanguination. Diagnosis must be achieved during the free intervals in this triad of often rapidly succeeding signs.     

Polymorphism of glutathione S‐transferases M1 and T1: susceptibility to solar keratoses in an Italian population

Background. Polymorphisms of glutathione S‐transferases (GSTs) are linked to skin cancer, but data on their association with solar keratosis (SK) are few and conflicting. Aim. To verify the possible association between the development of SK and the ‘null’ GSTM1 and/or T1 genotype. Methods. Analysis of the GSTM1 and T1 genotype of 33 subjects with ≥3 solar keratoses and of 150 controls, before and after stratification based on smoking habits, sun exposure and immunosuppression. Results. The GST T1 null allele is significantly (P < 0.03) associated with increased prevalence of SK in our population. Conclusions. Our study, the first on a Mediterranean population, shows the existence of a correlation between SK and the GST T1 null genotype. This result points out significant differences between subjects of different ethnic and geographical origin and warrants further investigation on a larger population, and ethnically different populations.