Tuneable phase plates for free electrons are a highly active area of research. However, their widespread implementation, similar to that of spatial light modulators in light optics, has been hindered by both conceptual and technical challenges. A specific technical challenge involves the need to minimize obstruction of the electron beam by supporting films and electrodes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aim: The Controlling Nutritional status (CONUT) score, a valuable tool evaluating the preoperative conditions of patients from a nutritional point of view, has been successfully adopted for a plethora of malignancies including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, since rectal cancer has characteristics that differ from colon cancer (CC) and because, as of 2024, investigations targeted to surgical CC patients are lacking in the pertinent literature, we decided to assess the predictive role of this scoring system in relation to postoperative course and survival of surgical patients affected only by this malignancy. However, as of 2024, the existing literature on CONUT has typically treated colorectal cancer (CRC) as a single homogeneous entity, often combining results for both colon cancer (CC) and rectal cancer (RC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: According to the latest guidelines, in patients with high-risk nodules with indeterminate cytology, diagnostic lobectomy should be the preferable surgical approach in the absence of factors that suggest a total thyroidectomy.
Methods: This retrospective observational study has as its main aim the evaluation of the cases that underwent surgery, for Bethesda class IV nodules in our iodocarent geographical area. Particular attention was paid to carcinoma incidence, preoperative nodule size, histological characteristics of the neoplasm, surgical approach and eventual need of radiometabolic treatment.
Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) often leads to neurological or psychiatric disorders, thus mimicking different diseases. Here we present a 77-years old man visited in the Emergency Department complaining for fatigue, multiple falls, nausea, anorexia, and constipation. Symptoms were rapidly worsening, and on admission he appeared sleepy, responsive to verbal stimulus, disoriented, dehydrated, unable to maintain upright position.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The detection of nodal status is based on examination of lymph nodes (LN) after the tumor surgical resection and the current guidelines recommend examining at least 12 regional LN. An inadequate number of examined LN may lead to a lower N stage or to a false-negative nodal disease. To overcome these issues, many authors proposed to consider the metastatic lymph node ratio (mLNR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Evaluate impact of lymph node ratio as prognostic factor in gastric cancer.
Methods: We studied 463 patients with gastric cancer who underwent curative gastric surgery with D1 or D2 lymphadenectomy, Data were collected from May 1996 through December 2010 at Department of General Surgery of Parma University Hospital. We divided patients in two groups according to number of nodes removed Results: The results of the present nonrandomized retrospective single centre study confirm the promising role of the LNR as an independent prognostic factor.
Aim: evaluating the impact of screening programmes on colorectal cancer (CRC) in Italy.
Methods: we studied 1292 patients with colorectal cancer. Data were collected from January 2004 through December 2015 in Parma University Hospital.
Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common tumor in women, 523.000 cases were estimated in Europe in 2018 and it remains the third cause of cancer related deaths after lung and colorectal cancer. The incidence of thyroid cancer (TC) in females is higher than in males.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLaparoscopic cholecystectomy has become the gold standard for the treatment of symptomatic cholelithiasis. Iatrogenic bile duct injuries are still a diagnostic and therapeutic problem and their incidence increased with the introduction of laparoscopic technique. This case report documents a patient with a biliary fistula from an accessory bile duct - Lushka's duct - after routine laparoscopic cholecystectomy, unresponsive to relaparoscopy, ERCP with papillosphincterotomy, biliary stent and nosobiliary tube placement and finally treated with injection of fibrin glue and balloon tamponade through the external drain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Early Hypocalcemia is the most frequent complication after thyroid surgery. Several studies have tried to identify factors (patient caracteristics or surgical technique variations) affecting hypocalcemia following thyroid surgery. This studiy evaluates the role of several factors in postoperative hypocalcemia development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Solitary thyroid nodules are the most common endocrine occurance in general population. With the introduction of Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology (BSRTC) to fine-needle aspiration (FNA) specimens we found a reliable standard method to evaluate malignancy risk in thyroid neoplasms. This study evaluates the correlation between BSRTC and real results in our center investigating the role of several factors as confounding factors for cytological diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: The identification of prognostic factors in gastric cancer is important for predicting patients' survival and determining therapeutic strategies.
Materials Of Study: A retrospective analysis ofpatients who underwent surgery for gastric cancer between 1996 and 2010. The appropriate cut-off value of tumor size related to survival was determined using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves and it was 2,5 cm.
Background: Pulmonary metastasectomy is considered a standard procedure in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). Different prognostic factors including multiple metastatic nodules, the presence of extra-pulmonary metastases and BRAF mutation status have been associated with poor survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate which factors influenced survival in CRC patients undergoing pulmonary metastasectomy by studying primary tumors and pulmonary metastases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Surgical resection remains the main curative treatment for gastric cancer but is still affected by high postoperative morbidity and mortality rates, especially in Western countries.
Materials And Methods: We've analyzed patients treated for gastric cancer at our Operative Unit of ent, extent of lymphadenectomy and survival. General Surgery and Organ Transplantation of the University Hospital of Parma from January 2006 till December 2010, relating the occurrence of eventual complications to sex, age at diagnosis, definitive histological examination, type and duration of surgical treatment.
Unlabelled: Iatrogenic diaphragmatic hernia following laparoscopic left colectomy for splenic flexure cancer. An unusual complication Diaphragmatic hernias are a migration of abdominal structures into the thorax via a diaphragmatic defect; they may be classified as congenital or acquired and acquired hernias can be hiatal, traumatic or iatrogenic, generally complications of thoracic or abdominal surgery. We report a case of iatrogenic diaphragmatic hernia after a laparoscopic left colectomy for splenic flexure tumor; to our knowledge, in literature this case is the first reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Laparoscopic surgery developed continuously over the past years becoming the gold standard for some surgical interventions. Laparoscopic colorectal surgery is well established as a safe and feasible procedure to treat benign and malignant pathologies. In this paper we studied in deep the role of laparoscopic right colectomy analysing the indications to this surgical procedure and the factors related to the conversion from laparoscopy to open surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Gastro Intestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs) are defined as mesenchymal tumours that develop within the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. Surgery is the treatment of choice and may be indicated for locally advanced or previously non resectable disease after a favorable response to preoperative therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted for all patients with a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of GIST who were admitted to the University Hospital of Parma from January 2000 to January 2015.
Background: The conventional thyroidectomy is the most frequent surgical procedure for thyroidal surgical disease. From several years were introduced minimally invasive approaches to thyroid surgery. These new procedures improved the incidence of postoperative pain, cosmetic results, patient's quality of life, postoperative morbidity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To evaluate clinical and histopathological changes of gastric cancer (GC) in the last fifteen years and analyze factors influencing overall survival.
Material Of Study: We have retrospectively categorized patients submitted to surgery for GC from January 1996 to December 2010. The analysis focused on two periods: 1996-2003 (period 1) and 2004-2010 (period 2).
Unlabelled: We know the significance of adenomas about the risk of neoplastic transformation defined as adenoma-carcinoma sequence. Although the majority of adenomas removed are small, it is well recognized that the risk of malignant transformation increases with an increased adenoma size. The term "malignant polyp" refers to an adenoma that macroscopically appears benign, but in which there is an invasion of malignant neoplastic cells within the submucosa through the muscularis mucosae.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Controversies exist in the best surgical approach (open vs. laparoscopy) to large adrenal tumours without peri-operative evidence of primary carcinoma, mainly due to possible capsular disruption of an unsuspected malignancy. In addition, intra-operative blood loss, conversion rate, operative time, and hospital stay may be increased with laparoscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy (MIVAT) was initially introduced for the treatment of selected patients who met certain thyroid volume, nodule size and pathological criteria. Recent studies indicate that the completeness of resection of malignant nodules is comparable to that obtained with conventional thyroidectomy.
Aims: To compare the 5-year outcomes in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) treated with MIVAT versus conventional thyroidectomy.
Background: Hypocalcemia and unintentional parathyroidectomy would be associated as cause of post-thyroidectomy hypocalcemia.
Materials And Methods: We analysed the cases treated with total thyroidectomy by two experienced endocrine surgeons from January 2010 to December 2011 at the Unit of General Surgery and Organ Transplantation of the University Hospital of Parma. These cases were divided in two groups: "Group A" included patients for whom a histological report was made that was negative for a parathyroid avulsion, and "Group B" included patients for whom an inadvertent avulsion of the intracapsular parathyroid glands had occurred.