Il Museo Paleontologico e Preistorico di S.Anna D’Alfaedo.

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Role of early proctoscopy in predicting late symptomatic proctitis after external radiation therapy for prostate carcinoma

Purpose: To determine whether acute radiation-proctitis, diagnosed by proctoscopy after radiationtherapy for prostate cancer, can predict late clinical proctitis.Methods and Materials: A prospective study of 130 patients who underwent external radiationtherapy (RT) for stage T1 to T4 prostate cancer between 1997 and 2008 was performed. Treatmentswere conventional (2-dimensional [2D]) in 61 patients and 3D conformal in 69, witha median target dose of 72 Gy (70-74 Gy). Within 1 week after RT, proctoscopy was performedto detect possible acute endoscopic proctitis (AEP). Acute clinical proctitis (ACP) and late clinicalproctitis (LCP) were also evaluated. The median follow-up was 84 months (20-180 months).The influence of AEP and ACP on LCP occurrence was studied using the Cox model controllingfor age, dose, prostatectomy, RT technique (2D vs 3D), and hormone therapy.Results: AEP was detected in 15 patients (11.5%) and ACP in 67 (51.5%); in 13 cases (10%)AEP and ACP occurred simultaneously. Thirty-five cases of LCP were recorded. The 5-yearprobability of developing LCP was highest in patients with AEP and ACP (77%, 95% confidenceinterval [CI] 53%-94%) and lowest in asymptomatic patients (14%, 95% CI 7%-26%;P<.001). Compared to asymptomatic patients, the 5-year probability also was slightly increasedin patients with ACP only (26%, 95% CI 16%-40%; PZ.052). In multivariable analysis, thecombination of AEP and ACP was the main predictor of LCP: compared to asymptomaticpatients, the hazard ratio was 5.6 (2.1-15.2) in patients with AEP plus ACP (PZ.001) and2.1 (0.9-4.9) in those with ACP only (PZ.103).Conclusions: In patients with AEP and ACP, the risk of LCP was more than 5-fold increasedcompared to those who were asymptomatic, while a much smaller increase in risk occurredin patients with ACP only. Early proctoscopy can provide valuable information regarding thelikelihood of late proctitis

Probing language processing in cochlear implant users with visual word recognition: effects of lexical and orthographic word properties

Deaf individuals who learned a spoken language with the aid of a cochlear implant (CI) often experience difficulties with reading. In the present study, we investigate this issue by assessing the impact of lexical and orthographic predictors on visual word recognition in early and late deaf CI-users. Early deaf CI-users were comparable to age-matched hearing controls, for both response accuracy and latencies, whereas late deaf CI-users were slower albeit similarly accurate with respect to age-matched controls. Analyses of the impact of lexical and orthographic predictors, however, revealed that early deaf-CI users were slower than controls in recognising low frequency words and words with high proportion of consonants. In conclusion, early deaf individuals who developed their language using a CI show qualitative differences in visual word processing, above and beyond the overall performance. This suggests that typical overall performance may emerge also in the context of atypical lexical and word form representations

Modern radiotherapy in cancer treatment during pregnancy.

Breast cancer, gynecological malignancies and lymphomas are the most frequently diagnosed tumors in pregnant women. The feasibility of radiotherapy during pregnancy remains a subject of debate and clinicians continue to hesitate on this approach, trying to avoid radiotherapy in most cases. Since the 1990s, several technological advances, including intensity modulated and image guided radiation delivery, have been implemented in radiation oncology to improve the radiation treatment in terms of effectiveness and tolerability. It remains uncertain which short- and long-term health effects the radiation exposure of the fetus may have through advanced radiotherapy techniques. The present systematic literature review aims to summarize the limited current evidences of the feasibility and clinical results of &quot;modern&quot; radiotherapy procedures for the treatment of the most frequently diagnosed tumors in pregnant women

Modern radiotherapy in cancer treatment during pregnancy

Breast cancer, gynecological malignancies and lymphomas are the most frequently diagnosed tumors in pregnant women. The feasibility of radiotherapy during pregnancy remains a subject of debate and clinicians continue to hesitate on this approach, trying to avoid radiotherapy in most cases. Since the 1990s, several technological advances, including intensity modulated and image guided radiation delivery, have been implemented in radiation oncology to improve the radiation treatment in terms of effectiveness and tolerability. It remains uncertain which short- and long-term health effects the radiation exposure of the fetus may have through advanced radiotherapy techniques. The present systematic literature review aims to summarize the limited current evidences of the feasibility and clinical results of "modern" radiotherapy procedures for the treatment of the most frequently diagnosed tumors in pregnant women

Landscape changes in relation to the Human-Environment relationship in Southern Europe during the Pleistocene.

none1Exhibition Catalogue, Progetto RAFFAELLO, Commissione Europea.nonePERETTO C.Peretto, Carl

Peptic ulcer in hepatic cirrhosis and renal failure.

Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology9 Suppl