Pregnancy in women with physical and intellectual disability: psychiatric implications.

Women with disabilities feel the desire for motherhood as much as women without special clinical needs. Their fertility is often not impacted by disability and they can have children. However, several issues must be considered, depending on the physical, mental or developmental disability.

COVID-19, liver transplant, and immunosuppression: Allies or foes?

Liver transplant (LT) recipients are considered at a particularly high risk for developing critical COVID-19 infection. To date, available data are heterogeneous and scarce and mortality in LT recipients seems to be higher compared to normal population, but whether this is caused by altered immunological status, immunosuppression (IS), or underlying comorbidities has not yet been fully clarified. Some evidences show that IS might play a role in the pathophysiology of this new disease.

Metastases to extraocular muscles from breast cancer: case report and up-to-date review of the literature.

Background: Unilateral or bilateral metastases to extraocular muscles are very rare in breast cancer.

Case Presentation: We describe a case of inferior rectus extraocular muscle involved by ductal luminal B/Her-2 neu negative breast cancer, observed in a cohort of 580 patients. Our patient had received chemotherapy and hormonal therapy (tamoxifen for 3 years and letrozole in the following 3 years) for her primary cancer and developed an orbital metastasis while she was under aromatase inhibitor-based therapy.

To evaluate the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging in predicting unusual site ectopic pregnancy: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of pelvic MRI in the diagnosis of unusual ectopic pregnancy (EP), when ultrasound (US) examination is inconclusive.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 150 patients with suspected EP. Clinical, US and MRI features of 15 unusual EPs were analysed.

Cytoreductive Surgery Plus Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Patients with Peritoneal Metastases from Endometrial Cancer.

Background: More information is needed for selection of patients with peritoneal metastases from endometrial cancer (EC) to undergo cytoreductive surgery (CRS) plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC).

Methods: This study analyzed clinical, pathologic, and treatment data for patients with peritoneal metastases from EC who underwent CRS plus HIPEC at two tertiary centers. The outcome measures were morbidity, overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS) during a median 5 year follow-up period.

Does anthracycline-based chemotherapy in pregnant women with cancer offer safe cardiac and neurodevelopmental outcomes for the developing fetus?

Background: Cancer treatment during pregnancy is a growing problem especially now that women delay childbearing. Systemic treatment of these malignancies during pregnancy centers mainly on the anticancer drugs anthracyclines, widely used in treating hematological and breast cancer during pregnancy and sometimes associated with early and late toxicity for the fetus. Owing to concern about their cardiac and neurodevelopmental toxicity more information is needed on which anthracycline to prefer and whether they can safely guarantee a cardiotoxicity-free outcome in the fetus.

Evaluating the Acute Abdomen in the Pregnant Patient.

Acute abdominal pain in pregnancy presents diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Ultrasound remains the primary imaging investigation of the pregnant abdomen because of its availability, portability, and lack of ionizing radiation. MR imaging has been shown to be useful in the diagnosis of gynecologic and obstetric problems and in the setting of acute abdomen during pregnancy.

Quality of Sexual Life in Women with Primary Sjögren Syndrome.

Objective: To assess the quality of sexual life of women with primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS) and to identify its correlations with disease activity and damage, quality of life, and mood disorders.

Methods: The quality of sexual life of 24 women with pSS was assessed with the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). Twenty-four healthy women, matched by age and hormonal status, were enrolled as controls.

Breast cancer or metastasis? An unusual case of metastatic malignant pleural mesothelioma to the breast.

Background: Metastases to the breast from extramammary malignancies are very rare, and ruling out the diagnosis of primary breast tumor is important in order to decide on clinical management and predict prognosis.

Case Presentation: Clinical examination revealed in a 49-year-old hairdresser a 3-cm hard lump adherent to the underlying layers in the right breast. Trucut biopsy was performed.

Stone disease in pregnancy: imaging-guided therapy.

Renal colic is the most frequent nonobstetric cause for abdominal pain and subsequent hospitalization during pregnancy. The physio-anatomical changes in the urinary tract and the presence of the fetus may complicate the clinical presentation and management of nephrolithiasis. Ultrasound (US) is the primary radiological investigation of choice.

Breast cancer during pregnancy: a retrospective study on obstetrical problems and survival.

Objectives: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers occurring in pregnancy. Data on survival of these patients and their obstetrical complications are still limited.

Study Design: We conducted a case-control, retrospective study to evaluate the overall survival (OS) of 22 patients with breast cancer in pregnancy (BCP) and 45 non-pregnant women with breast cancer (BC) matched for age, stage and hormonal status.

Impact of mTOR-I on fertility and pregnancy: state of the art and review of the literature.

Successful transplantation should lead to improvements in sexual function and sex hormone disturbances in both men and women, but immunosuppressive drugs may interfere with hormone metabolism. In this regard, several studies have showed a potential negative effect of mTOR inhibitors (mTORi) on male gonadal function, while their role in the female patients is not well documented in the literature. Successful pregnancy is possible after solid organ transplantation.

Outcome of pregnancy in Italian patients with primary Sjögren syndrome.

Objective: To investigate pregnancy and fetal outcomes in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS).

Methods: An obstetric history of 36 women with established diagnosis of pSS at pregnancy was obtained from a multicenter cohort of 1075 patients. In a subgroup case-control analysis, 12 deliveries in patients with pSS were compared with 96 control deliveries.

Myopathy complicating lupus pregnancy.

Systemic lupus erythematosus was diagnosed in a 34-year-old pregnant woman because of leukopenia, typical skin rash, clinical and biochemical signs of muscle involvement, and positive serology (antinuclear antibodies and anti-double-stranded DNA). Corticosteroids and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) were started at 18 weeks of gestation with overall benefit except for muscle involvement, which proved resistant even to higher dose of corticosteroids and high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin. Muscle biopsy showed signs of HCQ toxicity, and the drug was stopped.

Transabdominal intralesional injection of Methotrexate in two angular live ectopic pregnancies.

The transvaginal injection of Methotrexate in the treatment of live ectopic pregnancy has been reported. The Authors report two cases of angular live ectopic pregnancies treated successfully with transabdominal injection of Methotrexate.

Pregnancy after liver transplantation: report of 8 new cases and review of the literature.

Improved survival and quality of life following liver transplantation are associated with an increased frequency of pregnancies in liver-transplanted women. We investigated the outcome, complications, and management of those pregnancies. We have reviewed the literature and report 8 pregnancies in 6 transplant recipients.