Epidermal inclusion cyst of the breast . A literature review

An epidermal inclusion cyst (EIC) of the breast is a rare, benign condition that may potentially be malignant. The present study conducted a systematic review of the literature in order to identify pathological hypotheses, clinical characteristics, and diagnostic and treatment options. A search for relevant studies was conducted through the Scopus, Embase and Medline databases during September 2014. The search term employed was ῾epidermal inclusion cyst breast᾽. Studies were selected if they contained adequate information regarding symptoms at presentation, diagnostic tools, pathology, characteristics, type of procedure performed and follow-up routines. A total of 35 papers describing 91 patients affected by EIC of the breast were identified. Following this, a total of 82 patients, including an additional case supplied from the present study, were selected for further analysis. EIC of the breast typically occurs during the fifth decade of life. A palpable mass of the breast was present in 65 (79%) patients. Ultrasonographic imaging was consistently utilized as a diagnostic tool in all the cases analyzed, whereas fine-needle aspiration cytology was used in 70% of the cases and mammography in 65%. No tumor recurrence was reported at a mean follow-up time of 53 months. The present study demonstrated that elliptical excision is the preferred treatment for EIC of the breast, with pathological analysis required to exclude malignancy

Il modello del bricolage evolutivo: dagli organismi al linguaggio

Se Newton concepisce la gravitazione universale per analogia con l’attrazione fra persone, Darwin sviluppa  la teoria della selezione naturale utilizzando metafore di origine sociale come lotta e competizione, Freud costruisce la teoria psicanalitica utilizzando metafore archeologiche, la cibernetica rappresenta la mente come un calcolatore, è forse vera la frase di Aristotele: «La cosa di gran lunga più grande è essere maestro di metafora&raquo

Experimental testing of a hybrid sensible-latent heat storage system for domestic hot water applications

Aim of this work is to present the results of the testing of a small scale hybrid sensible/latent storage system (nominal volume 48.6 dm3), consisting of water in which macro-encapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) are added. Two different PCMs were macro-encapsulated, a commercial paraffin and a hydrate salts mixture prepared in the CNR ITAE lab, and loaded inside the tank in order to be tested. Different volume ratios between the PCM and the water were tested. The tests were conducted simulating different domestic hot water draw-off profiles. The resulting data showed an appreciable increase of heat storage capacity per unit of volume, even for limited fractions of PCM employed, reaching up to 10% of heat storage increasing by 1.3 dm3 of hydrate salts mixture added. Finally, the experimental results were used to test a numerical method of a PCM enhanced tank for dynamic plant simulations in ESP-r environment

Therapeutic Strategies and Oncological Outcome of Peritoneal Metastases from Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review and Pooled Analysis

The peritoneum is an unusual site of metastases from lung cancer, and optimal management at the moment remains unclear and mostly based on palliative strategies. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate demographic characteristics, management and overall survival of patients with peritoneal metastases from lung cancer (PCLC). A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and pooled analysis was performed searching all English studies published until December 2022. PROSPERO, CRD42022349362. Inclusion criteria were original articles including patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis from lung cancer, specifying at least one outcome of interest. Exclusion criteria were being unable to retrieve patient data from articles, and the same patient series included in different studies. Among 1746 studies imported for screening, twenty-one were included (2783 patients). Mean overall survival was between 0.5 and 5 months after peritoneal carcinomatosis diagnosis and 9 and 21 months from lung cancer diagnosis. In total, 27% of patients underwent first-line or palliative chemotherapy and 7% of them surgery. Management differs significantly among published studies. The literature on PCLC is scarce. Its incidence is low but appears to be substantially rising and is likely to be an underestimation. Prognosis is very poor and therapeutic strategies have been limited and used in a minority of patients. Subcategories of PCLC patients may have an improved prognosis and may benefit from an aggressive oncological approach, including cytoreductive surgery. Further investigation would be needed in this regar

Anosmia and ageusia as predictive signs of COVID-19 in healthcare workers in Italy. A prospective case-control study

The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of symptoms and signs in healthcare workers (HCW) with Sars-CoV-2

The place of allogeneic stem cell transplantation in aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the era of CAR-T-cell therapy

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells are a treatment option for patients with relapse/refractory (R/R) non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), acute lymphoid leukemia and multiple myeloma. To date, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), follicular lymphoma (FL), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have been successfully treated with CAR-T cells directed against the CD19 antigen. However, when R/R disease persists after several treatment lines, patients with these diseases are often referred to transplantation centres to receive allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ALLO-SCT). ALLO-SCT and CAR-T cells share mechanism of actions, inducing immune effects of T-cells (and other cells after transplantation) against lymphoma cells, but they differ in several other characteristics. These differences justify unique positioning of each therapy within treatment algorithms. In this paper, we analyzed the results obtained after ALLO-SCT and CAR-T-cell therapy in patients with aggressive lymphomas (large B-cell lymphoma and MCL) to identify the ideal scenarios in which these 2 immunological therapies should be employed

SNPs Array Karyotyping Reveals a Novel Recurrent 20p13 Amplification in Primary Myelofibrosis

The molecular pathogenesis of primary mielofibrosis (PMF) is still largely unknown. Recently, single-nucleotide polymorphism arrays (SNP-A) allowed for genome-wide profiling of copy-number alterations and acquired uniparental disomy (aUPD) at high-resolution. In this study we analyzed 20 PMF patients using the Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 in order to identify novel recurrent genomic abnormalities. We observed a complex karyotype in all cases, detecting all the previously reported lesions (del(5q), del(20q), del(13q), +8, aUPD at 9p24 and abnormalities on chromosome 1). In addition, we identified several novel cryptic lesions. In particular, we found a recurrent alteration involving cytoband 20p13 in 55% of patients. We defined a minimal affected region (MAR), an amplification of 9,911 base-pair (bp) overlapping the SIRPB1 gene locus. Noteworthy, by extending the analysis to the adjacent areas, the cytoband was overall affected in 95% of cases. Remarkably, these results were confirmed by real-time PCR and validated in silico in a large independent series of myeloproliferative diseases. Finally, by immunohistochemistry we found that SIRPB1 was over-expressed in the bone marrow of PMF patients carrying 20p13 amplification. In conclusion, we identified a novel highly recurrent genomic lesion in PMF patients, which definitely warrant further functional and clinical characterization

Epidemiology and Microbiology of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections: Preliminary Results of a National Registry

Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) represent a wide range of clinical conditions characterized by a considerable variety of clinical presentations and severity. Their aetiology can also vary, with numerous possible causative pathogens. While other authors previously published analyses on several types of SSTI and on restricted types of patients, we conducted a large nationwide surveillance programme on behalf of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases to assess the clinical and microbiological characteristics of the whole SSTI spectrum, from mild to severe life-threatening infections, in both inpatients and outpatients. Twenty-five Infectious Diseases (ID) Centres throughout Italy collected prospectively data concerning both the clinical and microbiological diagnosis of patients affected by SSTIs via an electronic case report form. All the cases included in our database, independently from their severity, have been managed by ID specialists joining the study while SSTIs from other wards/clinics have been excluded from this analysis. Here, we report the preliminary results of our study, referring to a 12-month period (October 2016–September 2017). During this period, the study population included 254 adult patients and a total of 291 SSTI diagnoses were posed, with 36 patients presenting more than one SSTIs. The type of infection diagnosed, the aetiological micro-organisms involved and some notes on their antimicrobial susceptibilities were collected and are reported herein. The enrichment of our registry is ongoing, but these preliminary results suggest that further analysis could soon provide useful information to better understand the national epidemiologic data and the current clinical management of SSTIs in Italy