Role of testis sparing surgery in the conservative management of small testicular masses: oncological and functional perspectives.

Introduction: Radical orchiectomy (RO) is still considered the standard of care for malignant germ cell tumours, which represent the vast majority of the palpable testicular masses. In those patients diagnosed with small testicular masses (STMs), testis-sparing surgery (TSS) could be an alternative treatment to RO. The aim of this updated review is to evaluate the current indications for TSS, and discuss the oncological and functional results of patients who had undergone organ-sparing surgery for STMs.

[Surgical site infections in breast surgery: a descriptive study].

Background: The incidence of postoperative surgical site infections (SSIs) in breast surgery is 3.1%. The risk to develop SSIs seems correlated to the level of glycemia.

Results of a multicenter, controlled, randomized clinical trial evaluating the combination of piperacillin/tazobactam and tigecycline in high-risk hematologic patients with cancer with febrile neutropenia.

Purpose: Empiric antibiotic monotherapy is considered the standard of treatment for febrile neutropenic patients with cancer, but this approach may be inadequate because of the increasing prevalence of infections caused by multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria.

Patients And Methods: In this multicenter, open-label, randomized, superiority trial, adult, febrile, high-risk neutropenic patients (FhrNPs) with hematologic malignancies were randomly assigned to receive piperacillin/tazobactam (4.5 g intravenously every 8 hours) with or without tigecycline (50 mg intravenously every 12 hours; loading dose 100 mg).

First case of bilateral, synchronous anaplastic variant of spermatocytic seminoma treated with radical orchifunicolectomy as single approach: case report and review of the literature.

Spermatocytic Seminoma (SS) is less common than the Classic variant, as its incidence ranges between 1.3% and 2.3% of all seminomas.

Preservation of the internal vesical sphincter and proximal urethra during retropubic radical prostatectomy may improve earlier recovery of continence in selected patients.

Objectives: To evaluate the influence of preservation of the muscular internal sphincter and proximal urethra on continence recovery after radical prostatectomy (RP).

Material And Methods: Fifty-five consecutive patients with organ confined prostate cancer were submitted to RP with the preservation of muscular internal sphincter and the proximal urethra (group 1) and compared to 55 patients submitted to standard procedure (group 2). Continence rates were assessed using a self-administrated questionnaire at 3, 7, 30 days and 3, 12 months after removal of the catheter.

Cytomegalovirus in bone marrow cells correlates with cytomegalovirus in peripheral blood leukocytes.

In allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients with bone marrow (BM) suppression, cytomegalovirus (CMV) pp65 antigenemia and DNA were detectable in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) and BM cells. A relationship between CMV infection of PBL and BM cells has been found.

STAT3 activation by KSHV correlates with IL-10, IL-6 and IL-23 release and an autophagic block in dendritic cells.

Kaposis's sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has been reported to infect, among others, monocytes and dendritic cells DCs impairing their function. However, the underlying mechanisms remain not completely elucidated yet. Here we show that DC exposure to active or UV-inactivated KSHV resulted in STAT3 phosphorylation.

Is this the real time for genomics?

In the last decades, molecular biology has moved from gene-by-gene analysis to more complex studies using a genome-wide scale. Thanks to high-throughput genomic technologies, such as microarrays and next-generation sequencing, a huge amount of information has been generated, expanding our knowledge on the genetic basis of various diseases. Although some of this information could be transferred to clinical diagnostics, the technologies available are not suitable for this purpose.

Invasive fungal diseases during first induction chemotherapy affect complete remission achievement and long-term survival of patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

We retrospectively evaluated, in a logistic-regression-model, the role of proven/probable invasive fungal diseases (PP-IFD), occurring during first induction chemotherapy, on the achievement of complete remission (CR) and overall survival (OS) in 198 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. A PP-IFD was documented in 34 (17.2%) patients.

Urinary concentration of 8-isoprostane as marker of severity of pediatric OSAS.

Background: F2-isoprostanes are considered to be a reliable standard biomarker of oxidative stress in vivo because they are not influenced by the intake of lipids in the diet, and they are chemically stable molecules and easily detected. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that 8-isoprostane level is a useful marker to valuate the severity of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Methods: Sixty-five children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) (mean age 5.

First case of 18F-FACBC PET/CT-guided salvage retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for disease relapse after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer and negative 11C-choline PET/CT: new imaging techniques may expand pioneering approaches.

We present the first case of salvage retroperitoneal lymph node dissection based on the results of (18)F-FACBC PET/CT performed for a prostate-specific antigen relapse after radical prostatectomy. The patients underwent (11)C-choline PET/CT, which turned out negative, while (18)F-FACBC PET/CT visualized two lymph node metastases confirmed at pathological examination. Preliminary clinical reports showed an improvement in the detection rate of 20-40% for (18)F-FACBC in comparison with (11)C-choline, rendering the (18)F-FACBC the potential radiotracer of the future.

Fludarabine plus alemtuzumab (FA) front-line treatment in young patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and an adverse biologic profile.

In 45, ≤ 60 years old patients with CLL and an adverse biologic profile, a front-line treatment with Fludarabine and Campath (Alemtuzumab(®)) was given. The overall response rate was 75.5%, the complete response rate (CR) 24.

Spontaneous assembly of carbon-based chains in polymer matrixes through surface charge templates.

Stable chains of carbon-based nanoparticles were formed directly in polymer matrixes through an electrode-free approach. Spontaneous surface charges were generated pyroelectrically onto functionalized ferroelectric crystals, enabling the formation of electric field gradients that triggered the dipole-dipole interactions responsible for the alignment of the particles, while embedded in the polymer solution. The phenomenon is similar to the dielectrophoretic alignment of carbon nanotubes reported in the literature.

Acceptance of noninvasive computed tomography coronary angiography: for a patient-friendly medicine.

Purpose: This study was done to evaluate the psychological state and anxiety of patients undergoing computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA), and assess their acceptance and satisfaction compared to invasive conventional coronary angiography (CCA).

Materials And Methods: A total of 442 consecutive patients (282 male; mean age 57.7 ± 9.

Effects of various modes of mechanical ventilation in normal rats.

Background: Recent studies in healthy mice and rats have reported that positive pressure ventilation delivered with physiological tidal volumes at normal end-expiratory volume worsens lung mechanics and induces cytokine release, thus suggesting that detrimental effects are due to positive pressure ventilation per se. The aim of this study in healthy animals is to assess whether these adverse outcomes depend on the mode of mechanical ventilation.

Methods: Rats were subjected to 4 h of spontaneous, positive pressure, and whole-body or thorax-only negative pressure ventilation (N = 8 per group).

The case of a prosthetic limb used to cause lethal intravaginal injuries: forensic medical aspects in a case of intimate partner violence.

A common form of violence against women is sexual coercion on the part of their husbands/partners, the uncontrollable effects of which can lead to extreme consequences, as in the case of uxoricide examined in this report. It involved a 59-year-old female alcoholic, under observation on the part of social services as the possible victim of abuse by her husband, an amputee with a transtibial prosthesis. The woman had never admitted to her social workers that her husband was abusing her.

Testis-sparing surgery for the conservative management of small testicular masses: an update.

Background: Malignant germ cell tumours represent the vast majority of palpable testicular masses, and radical orchiectomy is still considered the standard-of-care. Testis-sparing surgery (TSS) could be an alternative to radical orchiectomy in patients diagnosed with small testicular masses (STMs). The aim of this article was to review the current indications and the oncological and functional outcomes of TSS when performed for STMs.

Breast-conservative surgery with and without radiotherapy in patients aged 55-75 years with early-stage breast cancer: a prospective, randomized, multicenter trial analysis after 108 months of median follow-up.

Objectives: Breast-conserving therapy (BCT), including postoperative whole breast irradiation (WBI), is generally accepted as the treatment of choice for most patients with early-stage breast cancer. The question whether WBI is mandatory in all patients remains one of the most controversial issues in BCT. To answer this question, a randomized, prospective, multicentre study was launched in January 2001.

18F-FACBC compared with 11C-choline PET/CT in patients with biochemical relapse after radical prostatectomy: a prospective study in 28 patients.

Introduction: The aim of our study was to compare the detection rate of anti-3-18F-FACBC PET/CT in comparison with 11C-choline PET/CT in the evaluation of disease recurrence of PCa after radical prostatectomy.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-eight consecutive patients with biochemical relapse after radical prostatectomy were submitted to anti-3-18F-FACBC PET/CT and 11C-choline PET/CT to evaluate the site of disease recurrence. Androgen deprivation therapy was avoided in all cases.

Prevalence and severity of oral disease in adults with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review of observational studies.

Background: Oral disease may be increased in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and, due to associations with inflammation and malnutrition, represents a potential modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality. We summarized the prevalence of oral disease in adults with CKD and explored any association between oral disease and mortality.

Methods: We used systematic review of observational studies evaluating oral health in adults with CKD identified in MEDLINE (through September 2012) without language restriction.

A shared representation of the space near oneself and others in the human premotor cortex.

Interactions between people require shared high-level cognitive representations of action goals, intentions, and mental states, but do people also share their representation of space? The human ventral premotor (PMv) and parietal cortices contain neuronal populations coding for the execution and observation of actions, analogous to the mirror neurons identified in monkeys. This neuronal system is tuned to the location of the acting person relative to the observer and the target of the action. Therefore, it can be theorized that the observer's brain constructs a low-level, body-centered representation of the space around others similar to one's own peripersonal space representation.

Non-invasive NMR stratigraphy of a multi-layered artefact: an ancient detached mural painting.

NMR stratigraphy was used to investigate in situ, non-destructively and non-invasively, the stratigraphy of hydrogen-rich layers of an ancient Nubian detached mural painting. Because of the detachment procedure, a complex multi-layered artefact was obtained, where, besides layers of the original mural painting, also the materials used during the procedure all became constitutive parts of the artefact. NMR measurements in situ enabled monitoring of the state of conservation of the artefact and planning of minimum representative sampling to validate results obtained in situ by solid-state NMR analysis of the samples.

Disintegration of multisensory signals from the real hand reduces default limb self-attribution: an fMRI study.

The perception of our limbs in space is built upon the integration of visual, tactile, and proprioceptive signals. Accumulating evidence suggests that these signals are combined in areas of premotor, parietal, and cerebellar cortices. However, it remains to be determined whether neuronal populations in these areas integrate hand signals according to basic temporal and spatial congruence principles of multisensory integration.

Complete remission obtained with azacitidine in a patient with concomitant therapy related myeloid neoplasm and pulmonary mucormycosis.

Mucormycosis is the third cause of invasive mycosis after candidiasis and aspergillosis in AML patients, representing a poor prognostic factor associated with a high rate of fatal outcome. We report a case of a patient with AML and a concomitant pulmonary mucormycosis at diagnosis, who obtained a complete remission both of her AML and of the fungal infection. The incidence of the infection at the onset of leukemia is extremely unusual, and, to our knowledge, the sporadic cases reported in the literature are included in heterogeneous series retrospectively examined.