[Report on a case of schwannoma of the neck: clinical and therapeutic considerations].

We present a case of schwannoma of the neck in 49-year-old man, which was symptomatic for a long period: paraesthesia for one year, cervical mass for 2-3 months and dysphagia during the last 20 days. After ultrasonography and magnetic resonance the patient was operated on and complete excision of the mass was performed. The operation was performed via a cervical approach: the nerves and vascular and muscular structures were carefully isolated and then preserved.

[Treatment of acute biliary pancreatitis: our experience].

The results of endoscopic and surgical treatment in 21 patients affected by acute biliary pancreatitis are reported. All patients were managed according to the same protocol. Once the diagnosis was formulated (pain, serum amylase, ultrasonography, cholestasis and/or cholangitis) and the severity evaluated (Ranson's criteria, glucose and urea levels), the 21 patients underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopanctratography--within 24 hours in 8 patients (predicted severe disease) or within 72 hours in 13 patients (predicted mild disease).

[Report of a case of Gardner's syndrome: clinical and epidemiologic considerations and review of the literature].

Familial adenomatous polyposis is a hereditary clinical syndrome characterised by the presence of numerous adenomatous polyps of the colon and rectum and by lesions in other organs. The disease affects various different tissues and characteristically presents a variable biological and clinical behaviour. Colon polyps are precancerous lesions and the certainty of their malignant evolution within the 3rd-4th decades of life is now practically an established, extensively documented fact.

[Laparoscopic versus mini-cholecystectomy: analysis of hospital costs and social costs in a prospective randomized study].

The aim of the study was to calculate the hospital and social costs in relation to efficacy of clinical outcome, hospital stay and time off work in two groups of patients randomly treated with laparoscopic or mini-cholecystectomy. One hundred and eighty-one patients with simple, symptomatic gallstone disease were included in the study; of these, 9 cases were excluded because of conversion to conventional cholecystectomy. Eighty-six cases underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy and 86 mini-cholecystectomy.