Cytofunctional changes in nasal ciliated cells in patients treated with hyaluronate after nasal surgery.

Background: Hyaluronic acid (HA) plays a significant role in tissue repair of mucosal surfaces and, consequently, in surgical injury remodelling of nasal mucosa.

Objective: To assess the effect of high-molecular-weight HA administered by aerosol on the morphofunctional recovery of ciliated cells damaged by surgical trauma.

Methods: A single-blind, prospective, randomized trial was carried out with 94 patients who were randomly assigned, after endoscopic turbinoplasty, either to treatment with nasal saline solution irrigation (control group, n = 47) or to treatment with nasal douches based on high concentration (9 mg) and high-molecular-weight sodium hyaluronate (active treatment group, n = 47).

Relationship between CK19 expression, deregulation of normal keratinocyte differentiation pattern and high risk-human papilloma virus infection in oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Simple epithelial keratins appear early during embryonic development and are expressed in non-stratified, ductal and pseudo-stratified epithelial tissues. CK19, the lowest molecular weight keratin, is also expressed in basal layer of squamous epithelia of mucosal surfaces. Previous studies have shown that High Risk-Human Papilloma Virus (HR-HPV) epithelial infection induces cell immortalization via E6 and E7 viral proteins and this, in turn, impairs cytokeratin expression in cancerous cells lines derived from uterine cervix.

Cytological alterations of nasal mucosa after nasal packing.

Purpose: To assess the efficacy, tolerability and cytological alterations of nasal mucosa with various materials for nasal packing.

Materials And Methods: One hundred and five patients, submitted to a nasal surgery and post-operative packing with four different materials (Clauden®, Merocel®, two-fingered glove pack with gauzes inside and Lyofoam™) were prospectively enrolled in the study. All patients were submitted to a questionnaire of 12 questions which required the patients to refer to the tolerability of packing.

BRAF mutation and RASSF1A expression in thyroid carcinoma of southern Italy.

Aim of this work is to provide a detailed comparison of clinical-pathologic features between well-differentiated and poorly differentiated tumors according to their BRAF and RASSF1A status. We analyzed RASSF1A methylation by MSP and BRAF mutation by LCRT-PCR with LightMix® kit BRAF V600E in neoplastic thyroid tissues. Immunohistochemical evaluation of RASSF1A expression was also performed by standard automated LSAB-HRP technique.

Cell-mediated non-allergic rhinitis in children.

Objective: Non-allergic rhinitis is a heterogeneous disease whose etiology is largely unknown. Nasal cytology only allows us to recognize different non-allergic rhinitis forms on the basis of the prevalent inflammatory cell infiltrate: non-allergic rhinitis with eosinophils, with neutrophils, with mast-cells and with both eosinophils and mast-cells. The aim of this study is to define the incidence, clinical features and comorbidity of the different types of cell-mediated non-allergic rhinitis in a pediatric age group.