Anatomical basis of hypoxic and hyperoxic injuries to the centres of cardiorespiratory regulation.

The aim of the present paper is to briefly review the changes occurring in the nucleus tractus solitarii and carotid body in response to hypoxic and hyperoxic injuries. Selective alterations of dendrites and Fos-immunoreactivity of neurons have been observed in the subnucleus gelatinosus of the nucleus tractus solitarii of adult subjects dying after hypoxic-ischaemic injury. The selective vulnerability of this portion of the nucleus tractus solitarii may be explained mainly with reference to the vascularization of medullary tegmentum.

Workshop in clinical anatomy for residents in gynecology and obstetrics.

A workshop in the clinical anatomy of the female pelvic viscera has been part of the training program for the first year residents in Gynecology and Obstetrics at the University of Padova since the 1999-2000 academic year. The purpose of the workshop is to offer a direct experience of practical anatomy despite a shortage of cadavers. It is designed for six residents who work in three teams on three specimens.

A short course of dissection for second-year medical students at the School of Medicine of Padova.

A "Short course of dissection" was introduced in 1999 for the second-year medical students at the University of Padova. The course aims to offer a direct experience of practical anatomy despite a shortage of time for anatomy courses and lack of availability of cadavers. The course is optional and is planned for 40 students, subdivided into eight working groups.

Monte Carlo model of nonlinear chromatography.

A stochastic approach to the nonlinear chromatography theory, based on the Monte Carlo simulation method, is presented. A computer program, acting as a "virtual chromatograph" and performing a discrete event simulation, is described. Such a program allows one to choose the column type, operating conditions, sample composition, injection method, mobile-phase dispersion model, and stationary-phase sorption-desorption kinetics.

The bulbocerebellar circumolivary bundle.

During the course of a systematic study on the human vertebrobasilar arterial system (De Caro et al. 1995), our attention was drawn in one case to a strange morphology of the ventrolateral aspect of one side of the medulla. While initially our impression was that we were facing an actual malformation, review of the structure of the brainstem as described in most standard anatomical texts showed that it could correspond to the circumolivary fasciculus (Williams et al.

Middle cerebral artery thrombosis following blunt head trauma.

Stroke caused by occlusion of an intracranial artery following blunt head trauma is a rare event. Traumatic dissections of the middle cerebral artery have been reported while thrombosis is very rare. We describe a case of fatal thrombosis of the left middle cerebral artery that occurred in the time interval between 2 and 6 hours after an apparently minor head trauma in a motor vehicle accident.

Structural and ultrastructural changes in ileal neobladder mucosa: a 7-year follow-up.

Objective: To investigate the long-term morphological changes in the intestinal segment used to create an orthotopic ileal neobladder.

Materials And Methods: Periodic endoscopy with biopsy of the ileal mucosa was performed in 90 patients 3-84 months after radical cystectomy and urinary diversion via an orthotopic neobladder. Three cold-cup biopsies were taken from each patient and mucosal specimens processed for light and electronic microscopy.

Megalodolichobasilaris: the effect of atherosclerosis on a previously weakened arterial wall?

The morphological findings of 2 basilar artery giant fusiform aneurysms are presented. In one case (a 63-year-old man) the aneurysm was accidentally found at autopsy. Its wall was mainly formed by fibrous tissue without a smooth muscle layer and presented fragmented but still recognizable elastic lamina.

Anatomy of segmental duplication in the human basilar artery. Possible site of aneurysm formation.

Segmental duplications of the basilar artery, previously reported exclusively as anatomical variations, owe their clinical interest to the possible association with aneurysms localized at the junctions of the fenestrated segments. The morphological characteristics of 5 cases of basilar artery segmental duplication without aneurysms, found at autopsy, are reported. In 3 of these the proximal junction of the fenestrated segment was studied with scanning electron microscopy and morphometry.

The persistent primitive hypoglossal artery: a rare anatomic variation with frequent clinical implications.

The case of a persistent primitive hypoglossal artery (PHA) in a 72-year-old man dead from myocardial infarction is presented. The autopsy showed the presence of a semicircular marginal infarct on the surface of the left cerebral hemisphere. The PHA anastomized the basilar artery origin with the left internal carotid artery, running through the left hypoglossal canal together with the hypoglossal nerve.

The organization of subperitoneal connective tissue in the female pelvis.

The organization of the subperitoneal connective tissue in the female pelvis was studied in 6 cases, aged between 58 and 65, deceased from extrapelvic diseases. The pelvic viscera were removed as a whole with the surrounding subperitoneal tissue using a circular cut performed at the level of the pelvic walls. The specimens were fixed in 5% formalin.

Correlation of testicular volume, histology and LHRH test in adolescents with idiopathic varicocele.

Testicular growth failure as well as a well-documented histological damage have been reported in adolescents with varicocele. However, the proper management of this disorder in childhood is still debated due to the lack of seminal data and to the large number of adults with varicocele who have no fertility problems. In order to identify the subset of patients who are at risk of developing impaired testicular function and thus candidates for early varicocelectomy, we have studied 15 adolescents 10-17 years old with a grade II-III left-sided varicocele.

Fenestration of the vertebrobasilar junction.

A fenestration of the vertebrobasilar junction was found in an 80-year-old man during autopsy. It was associated with thrombosis of the vertebral arteries which had caused a left Wallenberg syndrome. The left limb of the fenestration presenting the same transverse diameter as that of the remaining part of the basilar artery appeared to be its direct (true) origin.

Anatomy of the optic nerve in elderly men.

The microscopic and ultrastructural modifications of glial and mesenchymal components of the optic nerve in the physiologic aging were studied in 182 human optic nerves. According to the age of subjects, a modification of topography of astrocytes was observed. In the 7th-8th decade, the axons of the optic nerve showed some phenomena of swelling and axonal degeneration.

Congenital polyp of the prostatic urethra: report on 2 cases.

Congenital polyps of the prostatic urethra are an uncommon cause of obstructive uropathy, infection and/or hematuria in male children. A filling defect localized in the posterior urethra on the voiding cystourethrogram represents the peculiar diagnostic finding. Transurethral resection is the treatment of choice, according to the size of the polyp.

[Mechanical responses on isolated frog neuromuscular preparations in the presence of calcitonin].

Previous observations had shown that, in the isolated rat preparations, calcitonin facilitates the excitement transmission from autonomic nerve-endings to smooth muscle. The present research, was designed to verify whether this facilitation effect could be present in somatic nerve-endings too. For this reason, we used the isolated frog "sciatic nerve-gastrocnemius muscle" preparation where the calcitonin influence on the beginning of a complete tetanic response was studied.