Considerations on the treatment of facial asymmetry [Considerazioni terapeutiche sulle asimmetrie facciali]

The term face asymmetry comprises a wide range of disorders including pure facial skeleton asymmetry or maxillo-mandibular dysmorphism and the various presentations of hemifacial microsomy. The authors describe the steps to follow in diagnosing and treating these patients. The initial clinical evaluation of the functional and aesthetic defect is very important; this helps in the choice of the protocol to follow in order to recreate a functional balance of the masticatory apparatus through orthodontics and surgery and simultaneously an initial improvement of the face aspect. At a later stage the remaining defects are corrected. The authors present two cases, a maxillo-mandibular dysmorphism and a hemifacial microsomy, as examples of the protocol of treatment used

Opzioni terapeutiche nella chiusura della breccia chirurgica a livello della piega nasogeniena.

La piega nasogeniena è localizzata in una sede corporea ad elevata importanza estetica. L’escissione di una lesione neoplastica, soprattutto se di piccola dimensione e situata in sua vicinanza, può avvantaggiarsi di una minor visibilità cicatriziale quando almeno parte dell’incisione viene effettuata sul fondo della suddetta piega. Si valutano le possibili opzioni per la chiusura della breccia chirurgica in vicinanza della piega nasogeniena

Microcystic adnexal carcinoma. A case report [Il carcinoma microcistico annessiale. Descrizione di un caso.]

Microcystic adnexal carcinoma (MAC) is a rare cutaneous neoplasm, locally aggressive, recently recognized as a clinicopathologic entity. Histologically, MAC shows both ductal and pilar differentiation. In this article we discuss a case of 52-year-old woman with MAC on the inferior lip, early recurred after initial excision

Maternal and foetal resistin and adiponectin concentrations in normal and complicated pregnancies

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate how resistin and adiponectin (ApN) are involved in maternal energy metabolism and foetal growth. Design: A cross-sectional study. Patients and Measurements: Resistin and ApN were measured in 30 healthy nonpregnant women, 73 pregnant women [10-41 weeks of gestation; 18 with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), five with pregnancy-induce hypertension (PIH), nine with pre-eclampsia (PE), eight with chronic hypertension (CH) and 33 normal] and 40 foetal samples (20-41 weeks of gestation; 18 from GDM mothers and 22 from normal mothers). Results: Resistin levels were significantly higher in normal pregnant women than in nonpregnant controls (13.7 \ub1 2.1 vs. 6.3 \ub1 1.6 ng/ml; P < 0.005) and showed a negative correlation with gestational age (P < 0.0001, r = -0.7). Only women with PE presented resistin levels significantly lower than normotensive women of the same gestational age (8.2 \ub1 1.2 vs. 17.9 \ub1 4.3 ng/ml; P < 0.005). ApN levels, although similar in normal pregnant women to those in nonpregnant controls, were significantly lower in women with GDM (37-41 weeks; 5.2 \ub1 0.5 vs. 8.2 \ub1 0.8 mg/l; P < 0.0001) and PE (20-37 weeks; 5.0 \ub1 0.7 vs. 9.5 \ub1 0.7 mg/l; P = 0.008) than those found in normal women matched for gestational age. Resistin was detected in the umbilical venous blood in foetuses from 20 to 41 weeks of gestation. In all newborns, both resistin and ApN levels were significantly higher than those recorded in adult life and did not correlate with maternal levels (P = ns, r = 0.03 for resistin and P = ns, r = -0.3 for ApN). Foetuses from diabetic mothers had ApN significantly lower than normal foetuses (26.8 \ub1 2.6 vs. 37.5 \ub1 3.5 mg/l; P = 0.02), while resistin levels were similar (17.3 \ub1 3.7 vs. 18.2 \ub1 1.5 ng/ml; P = ns). Conclusion: The secretion pattern of ApN in normal and complicated pregnancies strongly suggests an involvement of ApN in insulin resistance during gestation, while resistin seems to have a minor role. Moreover, the detection of high levels of resistin and ApN in cord blood during gestation is consistent with a regulatory action of these adipokines on tissue differentiation and foetal growth