Dipartimento Di Chirurgia "Pietro Valdoni"

Patients with space-occupying lesions (SOL) were studied using cholescintigraphy and varying results found. In 24 cases of SOL of 40 patients studied, we observed: (1) the presence of focal defects; (2) displacement of the intrahepatic biliary tree;

Local therapy with IL-2 may be very effective in the treatment of different forms of cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of IL-2 locoregional application in the treatment of colon cancer. Twenty eight syngenic BDIX rats were utilized in this study. The rats were divided into two groups of fourteen animals: group T (treatment) and group C (control). All rats of both groups were injected, under the splenic capsule, with T 10(7) DHD/K2/ TRb neoplastic cells. Then, within and around the site of the previous inoculation, the T group was injected with 1 ml of glucosate solutions + 0.1% albumin (BSA) containing 2.5 x 10(6) IU of IL-2 ( Proleukin-Chiron), whereas the C group was injected with 1 ml of BSA alone. After three weeks, rats were sacrificed and the liver and spleen were removed. The following parameters were considered: volume and weight, neoplastic-non neoplastic tissue index of the spleen, mitotic index and vascular density of splenic and hepatic les...

We report the case of a patient with a gastric remnant relapse of an antral carcinoma resected 5 years before and presenting with the clinical feature of a secondary achalasia (pseudoachalasia). In spite of the patient's 4-month history of dysphagia and weight loss that suggested a malignant lesion, barium swallow, repeated endoscopic biopsies and computed tomography (CT) scan of the upper abdomen did not reveal any abnormalities to indicate a recurrence. However, in the following months, because of worsening symptoms, a further CT scan was performed and revealed thickening of the cardia and gastric wall. The patient underwent an exploratory laparotomy that showed an unresectable lesion involving the gastric fundus, the diaphragm and penetrating into the mediastinum, and therefore a palliative jejunostomy was performed.

We describe how the Harry Dym equation fits into the the bi-Hamiltonian formalism for the Korteweg-de Vries equation and other soliton equations. This is achieved by means of a certain Poisson pencil constructed from two compatible Poisson structures. We obtain an analogue of the Kadomtsev-Petviashivili hierarchy whose reduction leads to the Harry Dym hierarchy. We call such system the HD-KP hierarchy. Then, we construct an infinite system of ordinary differential equations (in infinitely many variables) that is equivalent to the HD-KP hierarchy. Its role is analogous to the one played by the Central System for the Kadomtsev-Petviashivili hierarchy.

Background: Nonoperative treatment of splenic injuries is the current standard of care for hemodynamically stable patients. However, uncertainty exists about its efficacy for patients with major polytrauma, a high Injury Severity Score (ISS), a high grade of splenic injury, a low Glasgow Coma Score (GCS), and important hemoperitoneum. In these cases, the videolaparoscopic approach could allow full abdominal cavity investigation, hemoperitoneum evacuation with autotransfusion, and spleen removal or repair. Methods: This study investigated 11 hemodynamically stable patients with severe politrauma who underwent emergency laparoscopy. The mean ISS was 29.0 ± 3.9, and the mean GCS was 12.1 ± 1.6. A laparoscopic splenectomy was performed for six patients, whereas splenic hemostasis was achieved for five patients, involving one electrocoagulation, one polar resection, and three polyglycolic mesh wrappings. Results: The average length of the operation was 121.4 ± 41.6 min. There were two complications (18.2%), with one conversion to open surgery (9.1%), and no mortality. Conclusions: Laparoscopy is a safe, feasible, and effective procedure for evaluation and treatment of hemodynamically stable patients with splenic injuries for whom nonoperative treatment is controversial.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is slowly taking its place also in an emergency setting, regardless of its initial unfortunate course when iatrogenic lesions during surgery, complications and conversion rate make the laparoscopic approach in acute cholecystitis a hazard. With the development of laparoscopic technique, the laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis becomes a reality, but its role in emergency is not yet defined. From December 1998 to December 2005, 133 consecutive laparoscopic cholecystectomies for acute cholecystitis were performed in our institution by the same surgeon. The mean age of patients was 48 years old, 21 were over seventy. In the series patients in ASA III and IV were included. All procedures were performed with the same technique, developed in the examined period, which represents a standardized downwards laparoscopic cholecystectomy, easy to reproduce and safe to perform. We report our surgical technique and our results. We did not report mortal...

and unprotected nothing. Aim of the study was to evaluate tetanus immunity status comparing the traditional anamnestic method with the Tetanus Quick Stick (TQS), a rapid immunochromatographic test. Methods: A double-blind prospective study was carried out in the ED of the 1,000 bed teaching hospital Umberto I in Rome. Adult patients (≥18) with wounds attending at the ED were randomly included. Tetanus immunity status was evaluated by healthcare workers (HCWs) comparing the TQS test with the anamnesis. TQS test was performed by a trained HCW and afterwards the anamnesis about tetanus immunity status was collected by another HCW unaware of the TQS result. Also cost analysis was carried out. Results: Overall 400 patients (242 males and 158 females) were included, mean age was 46.7 ± 20.2 years (median 44 range 18 -109), 304 (76.0%) were italians and 96 foreigners (24.0%). Overall, 209 (52.2%) resulted TQS +, and protective immunity level was associated to lower mean age (40.1 ± 16.8 vs 53.8 ± 21,1; p<0,01). Using the anamnestic method 336 (84.0%) patients resulted "unprotected", 52 (13.0%) "partially unprotected" and 12 (3.0%) "completely protected". TQS test results showed that 154 (45.8%) out of 336 "unprotected" and 45 (86.5%) out of 52 "partially unprotected" actually had a protective antibody level. Finally two (16.7%) out of 12 "completely protected" group presented a non protective antibody level. Following only the anamnestic method 201 (50.0%) patients would have received some inappropriate treatment. Adopting TQS test in all patients would also be cost-effective saving € 1.95/patient. As tetanus immunity is inversely related to age, for <51 years old patients unnecessary treatment would have been avoided in 57.1% of patients, with a mean reduction per patient of € 7.50/patient with the TQS vs. € 12.69/ patient without. Conclusion: The study showed that tetanus protective immunity prevalence among adult patients attending our ED is about 50% and is mainly influenced by class age. TQS use allowed to reduce drastically inappropriate tetanus vaccine and immunoglobulins booster treatment. Also TQS use reduced costs.