Progetto Geosoglie

Il Centro Funzionale Decentrato (CFD) della Regione Sardegna si propone di sviluppare con il Progetto GEOSOGLIE una attività di ricerca e sviluppo sui temi del rischio idrogeologico e in particolare dei processi di innesco dei fenomeni franosi in funzione di specifici valori pluviometrici di soglia e della propensione al dissesto dei versanti. In questo lavoro viene presentata la struttura e lo sviluppo del progetto nelle sue fasi funzionali.The Decentralized Functional Centre (Centro Funzionale Decentrato, CFD) of Regione Autonoma della Sardegna, through the Project GEOSOGLIE, aims to develop research activities on hydrological risk issues and, in particolar, on the trigger processes of landslides according to specific rainfall thresholds. Moreover, the susceptivity to landslide will be mapped. In this paper we present the structure and the operational development of the project describing its functional phases

Safety and Efficacy of the New Combination Iron Chelation Regimens in Patients with Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia and Severe Iron Overload

The aim of this study is the evaluation of the safety and the efficacy of long-term combination therapy deferasirox plus desferrioxamine and deferasirox plus deferiprone in a large group of transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients with high values of serum ferritin and/or magnetic resonance, indicative of severe liver and cardiac iron accumulation. Sixteen adults with transfusion-dependent thalassemia were treated simultaneously with deferasirox plus desferrioxamine, while another 42 patients (seven children) were treated with deferasirox plus deferiprone. The hepatic and cardiac iron overload was assessed prior to treatment and then annually with magnetic resonance imaging, and the serum ferritin was measured monthly. Adverse events were checked at each transfusion visit. The safety of both the combinations was consistent with established monotherapies. Both treatments were able to decrease the serum ferritin and liver iron concentration over time, depending on the level of compliance with therapy. Cardiac iron measured as R2* did not significantly change in patients treated with deferasirox plus desferrioxamine. Most patients with MRI indicative of myocardial siderosis at the beginning of treatment reached normal values of cardiac iron at the last determination if treated with deferasirox plus desferrioxamine. The greatest limitation of these therapies was low patient adherence to the two drugs, which is not surprising considering that the need for an intensive chelation is generally linked to previous issues of compliance