The use of a fogarty catheter in the lifting of substernal goitres: an original technique

Substernal goitre (SG) is an infrequent occurence and it is found in 0.1-15% of all patients undergoing thyroid surgery. Sometimes lifting the intrathoracic component of the goitre into the neck is extremely difficult because the surgeon's finger cannot reach belove the gland. The cervicalization of SG by an n\ub07 Fogarty catheter is a safe, simple and effective technique and could further decrease the use of a sternotomy, with a lower rate of morbidity and a shorter recovery tim

Nuove metodiche in chirurgia tiroidea

La paralisi del nervo laringeo ricorrente e l'ipoparatiroidismo temporaneo post operatorio rappresentano le complicanze pi\uf9 frequenti dopo tiroidectomia totale. La magnificazione ottica 2.5X e l'autotrapianto delle paratiroidi si sono dimostrate metodiche estremamente efficaci in chirurgia tiroidea con sensibile decremento della morbilit\ue

α-costic acid, a plant sesquiterpenoid from Dittrichia viscosa, as modifier of Poly (lactic acid) properties: a novel exploitation of the autochthone biomass metabolite for a wholly biodegradable system

In this work, α−costic acid (α-CA), a metabolite coming from a perennial autochthon shrub Dittrichia viscose, was used as natural additive of polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable thermoplastic polymer, in order to modulate its chemico-physical properties, for the achievement of a wholly biobased packaging system. It's the first time that α−costic acid is exploited for this appealing and novel application. The investigations performed on PLA/α-CA films, evidenced strong physical interaction occurring between the polymer and α-CA, as confirmed by NMR and FTIR-ATR analyses; SEM micrographs showed a good embedding of α-CA particles inside PLA polymer matrix; GPC analysis highlighted a slight hydrolysis of polymer matrix clearly evidenced in mechanical properties. DSC analysis underlined the significant decreasing of Tg, associated with the increase of PLA chain mobility. TGA thermograms evidenced one broad degradation profile of PLA/α-CA system, accounting for the weighty physical interaction occurring between the polar groups of both polymer and plasticizer. Finally, PLA surface wettability notably enhanced by the inclusion of α-CA polar groups. In conclusion, α-CA can be considered as a promising plasticizer of PLA and a worthy modifier of its overall properties