[Laparocele in the aged].

Especially in the old patients (over 70 years) the incisional hernias represents an invalidating pathology whose treatment, for the high incidence of associated diseases of respiratory and cardiocirculatory apparatus in the aged, offers difficulties connected both to surgical methods and to the perioperative evaluation and preparation of patients. The infections of the surgical incision are very important in the pathogenesis of these diseases. In order to reduce the incidence of incisional hernias the systematic use of perioperative antibiotic therapy is desirable in every operation of abdominal surgery.

Calcitonin deficit syndrome in thyroidectomized patients.

The results of a study carried out on 10 patients who underwent total or subtotal thyroidectomy to determine the effects of a prolonged deficit in calcitonin on bone turnover, are reported. The following parameters were evaluated: serum calcium and phosphate, serum alkaline phosphatase, urinary hydroxyproline, serum iPTH, serum iCT and bone mineral content (BMC) of the distal radius. In ten patients controlled 24 months after surgery, a lowering in circulating iCT levels was noted together with a significant decrease in BMC.