Twenty Years of Experience in Juvenile Nasopharyngeal Angiofibroma (JNA) Preoperative Endovascular Embolization: An Effective Procedure with a Low Complications Rate.

Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (JNA) is a benign tumor of the nasal cavity that predominantly affects young boys. Surgical removal remains the gold standard for the management of this disease. Preoperative intra-arterial embolization (PIAE) is useful for reductions in intraoperative blood loss and surgical complications.

Unmet needs of Italian physicians managing patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Little is known about the unmet needs of physicians caring for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Aims: This study explored the practical difficulties and needs for professional updating of Italian IBD physicians.

Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to 600 physicians attending IG-IBD meetings.

Association between single nucleotide polymorphisms in the cyclooxygenase-2, tumor necrosis factor-α, and vascular endothelial growth factor-A genes, and susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are mediators of inflammation and angiogenesis; all of them are produced in liver cirrhosis (LC) and in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It was proposed that there is an association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and HCC. These allelic variants influence the transcriptional activity of these genes, and therefore the proteins levels.

Concentrations of cytokines IL-6 and IL-10 in plasma of burn patients: their relationship to sepsis and outcome.

Burn injury induces a suppression of the Th1 response, which is associated with an increased susceptibility to conditions of infection, morbidity, and mortality. It is well established that cytokines modulate the pathogenesis of burn injury. In this study, plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were determined in burn patients and correlated with the severity of sepsis.

The Treatment of Lyell'S Syndrome: our Experience.

In view of the pathogenic mechanisms of Lyell's syndrome, we consider support-only treatment to be insufficient and believe it is necessary to administer i.v. human immunoglobulin.

The local treatment of burns with antibiotics.

After presenting an analysis of the principal antiseptics used for the local treatment of burns, highlighting their toxicity and the limitations of their antibacterial effectiveness, we describe the therapeutic protocol used in our burns centre (where antibacterial treatment consists exclusively of antibiotics for both local and systemic use). We review the data regarding actual and predicted mortality, and mortality due to septicaemia during the years 2000-2003.