Focal Myositis in paediatric age.

BACKGROUND: Focal Myositis is a rare pseudotumor of unknown aetiology that is often difficult to diagnose and treat. Typically afflicting people in adulthood, it has occasionally been reported also among children. PURPOSE: the aim of this study is to review the literature of Focal Myositis in paediatric age in order to compare the clinical manifestation and the various treatment suggested by different authors. METHODS: this article describes a 6-year-old boy with focal myositis in gracilis muscle successfully treated by conservative methods, including nocturnal leg traction, intensive physiokinesi therapy and articulated knee orthosis guided to progressive extension. Furthermore a systematic review of literature concerning focal myositis in paediatric age is reported. CONCLUSION: our case and the review of literature suggests that conservative methods should be the first-choice treatment for FM in paediatric age and that surgery should be strictly reserved for selected cases where non-invasive methods have previously faile

Bethe-Salpeter bound-state structure in Minkowski space

The quantitative investigation of the scalar Bethe-Salpeter equation in Minkowski space, within the ladder-approximation framework, is extended to include the excited states. This study has been carried out for an interacting system composed by two massive bosons exchanging a massive scalar, by adopting (i) the Nakanishi integral representation of the Bethe-Salpeter amplitude, and (ii) the formally exact projection onto the null plane. Our analysis, on one hand, confirms the reliability of the method already applied to the ground state and, on the other one, extends the investigation from the valence distribution in momentum space to the corresponding quantity in the impact-parameter space, pointing out some relevant features, like (i) the equivalence between Minkowski and Euclidean transverse-momentum amplitudes, and (ii) the leading exponential fall-off of the valence wave function in the impact-parameter space.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Intrarenal arterial stiffness is increased in systemic sclerosis patients with anti-ribonucleic acid polymerase III antibodies

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Angiogenic and angiostatic factors in renal scleroderma-associated vasculopathy

BACKGROUND: The angiogenesis in systemic sclerosis (SSc) is impaired. An imbalance of pro-angiogenic factors and angiogenesis inhibitors has been implicated in the progression of peripheral microvascular damage, defective vascular repair and fibrosis. Intrarenal resistance index are considered markers of renal vasculopathy. The aim of the study is to evaluate angiogenic and angiostatic factors (VEGF and endostatin) in SSc patients and to correlate with intrarenal hemodynamic parameters. METHODS: 91 SSc patients were enrolled in this study. Serum VEGF and endostatin levels were determined. All patients underwent a renal Doppler ultrasound RESULTS: A significant positive correlation was observed between endostatin and renal Doppler parameters (p<0.0001). A negative correlation was observed between serum levels of endostatin and eGFR (p<0.01). In SSc patients with high resistive index, serum levels of endostatin were significantly (p<0.01) higher than in SSc patients with normal resistive index. The serum levels of endostatin significantly increased with progression of nailfold videocapillaroscopy damage (p<0.01) and were significantly (p<0.05) higher in SSc patients with digital ulcers than in SSc patients without digital ulcers. CONCLUSION: This is the first study that assess in SSc patients intrarenal hemodynamic parameters and endostatin. In SSc patients, endostatin represents a marker of renal scleroderma-associated vasculopathy

La riabilitazione termale nel 150° Anniversario dell'Unità d'Italia. Un testimonial d'eccezione: Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Nell’anno in cui si celebra il 150° Anniversario dell’Unità d’Italia, il riemergere di alcune lettere di Giuseppe Garibaldi - che fanno riferimento ad un periodo di cure termali effettuato presso le Terme della Ficoncella e di Traiano (vicino Civitavecchia, Roma) - ci ha dato lo spunto per questo lavoro che intende considerare i numerosi trattamenti effettuati presso diverse stazioni termali italiane dall’Eroe dei Due Mondi per una patologia reumatica (probabilmente una poliartrite reumatoide) e per gli esiti di varie ferite di guerra, in particolare la ben nota ferita da arma da fuoco subita a livello dell’arto inferiore destro nel corso della battaglia d’Aspromonte, nel 1862

Intercondylar eminence fracture treated by resorbable magnesium screws osteosynthesis: A case series.

Abstract Introduction Tibial spine avulsion fractures are mostly a paediatric injury which appropriate treatment is currently debated in literature. The choice between conservative and surgical treatment is based on the radiographic classification of Meyers-McKeever. The most diffused surgical techniques involve either internal fixation devices (screws) or bone tunnels fixation with resorbable sutures. Today, a third option is represented by resorbable magnesium screws which could combine the best features of the two classical systems. Objective of this study is to investigate the efficacy of these new devices in the surgical treatment of tibial spine avulsions. Materials and methods Since 2014 we have seen seven patients with tibial eminence fracture. Patients underwent clinical and radiological examination (MRI, CT scan) before surgery. Only 3 patients that presented with a grade III or IV lesion were treated surgically with internal fixation with magnesium resorbable screws. In post-operative follow-up, functional recovery was evaluated at 1, 2, 4, 6 and 12 months, clinically and by X-ray. Lysholm and IKDC scores were submitted at 1, 2, 6 and 12 months. MRI was repeated at 6 and 12 months. Results All three surgical patients showed progressive clinical and functional improvement during the follow-up period. The first case showed a quicker overall recovery rate, which might be due to the lower grade of the lesion. Radiographs and MRI evaluation showed regular healing of the injury. The devices appeared completely resorbed at the 6 months follow-up and replaced by newly formed bone at the 12 months follow-up. Conclusions The treatment of tibial spine avulsion fractures with arthroscopic reduction and internal fixation (ARIF) technique by magnesium resorbable screws seems to result in an excellent functional recovery without complications related to fixation devices, which were completely resorbed after 6 months and replaced by newly formed bone after 12 months. This new method could be considered as an alternative option to classic techniques by non resorbable fixation devices or bone tunnel fixation. Further studies are needed in order to evaluate the efficacy of these new devices in a wider group of patients

miR-29b and miR-198 overexpression in CD8⁺ T cells of renal cell carcinoma patients down-modulates JAK3 and MCL-1 leading to immune dysfunction

Background: Mammalian microRNAs (miR) regulate the expression of genes relevant for the development of adaptive and innate immunity against cancer. Since T cell dysfunction has previously been reported in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC; clear cell type), we aimed to analyze these immune cells for genetic and protein differences when compared to normal donor T cells freshly after isolation and 35 days after in vitro stimulation (IVS) with HLA-matched RCC tumor cells. Methods: We investigated gene expression profiles of tumor-reactive CD8+ T cells obtained from RCC patient and compared with their HLA-matched healthy sibling donors using a microarray approach. In addition, miRNAs analysis was performed in a validation cohort of peripheral blood CD8+ T cells from 25 RCC patients compared to 15 healthy volunteers. Results: We observed that CD8+ T cells from RCC patients expressed reduced levels of anti-apoptotic and proliferation-associated gene products when compared with normal donor T cells both pre- and post-IVS. In particular, JAK3 and MCL-1 were down-regulated in patient CD8+ T cells versus their normal counterparts, likely due to defective suppressor activity of miR-29b and miR-198 in RCC CD8+ T cells. Indeed, specific inhibition of miR-29b or miR-198 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from RCC patients, resulted in the up-regulation of JAK3 and MCL-1 proteins and significant improvement of cell survival in vitro. Conclusions: Our results suggest that miR-29b and miR-198 dysregulation in RCC patient CD8+ T cells is associated with dysfunctional immunity and foreshadow the development of miR-targeted therapeutics to correct such T cell defects in vivo

Bryophytic vegetation of fragile and threatened ecosystems: the case of the Mediterranean temporary ponds in inland Central Italy.

The first overview of the bryophytic vegetation of the Mediterranean temporary ponds in Umbria region is reported. Phytosociological relevés were carried out in a scattered system of ephemeral pools, where seasonal fluctuation in the water level is the main driving factor. By applying Braun-Blanquet's approach to sample the bryo-communities and multivariate analysis tools to analyse data, the identification of some bryophyte communities was possible, one of which is here described as new association. It is Entosthodono fascicularidis-Archidietum alternifolii ass. nova, referable to the class Psoretea decipientis. The other bryo-communities have been framed into the classes Cladonio digitatae-Lepidozietea reptantis, Ceratodonto purpurei-Polytrichetea piliferii and Psoretea decipientis again