Il destino dell'ottuagenario operato di aneurisma dell'aorta addominale: Studio retrospettivo = The ­fate of octo­ge­nar­ian ­patients after abdom­i­nal aor­tic aneu­rysm: a ret­ro­spec­tive ­study

Background and aims. Owing to the increased mean life expectancy of the population, there is a rise in the diagnostic incidence of aneurysmatic pathology in ultra-octogenarian patients. Methods. The authors collected data relating to tile incidence of aneurysmatic pathology in ultra-octogenarian patients over a 10-year period in order to evaluate whether the surgical correction of the lesion significantly altered life expectancy compared to the mean level for the over-80-year-old population (5 years). Out of a total of 1298 patients undergoing endoaneurysmectomy, 26% were >80 years old (71 patients), and of these, 56 patients (22%) were operated electively and 15 (4%) underwent emergency surgery. Results. The data obtained from this study confirm the fact that, at a distance of 54 months after traditional endoaneurysmatic surgery, over 82% of ultra-octogenarian patients had died. Death was associated either with fatal complications relating to pre-existing risk factors or the evolution of pathologies unrelated to aneurysmatic disease. Conclusions. In conclusion, this study argues in favour of rethinking the tendency to operate on ultra-octogenarian patients: surgery should be reserved for more favourable cases based on the clinical condition of patients or for contingent situations that call for emergency treatment

Il trattamento convenzionale e con tecnica chirurgica endovascolare degli aneurismi della arteria iliaca= Conventional and endovascular surgical treatment of iliac artery aneurysms

Background. The paper reports a retrospective study designed to assess the feasibility of an endovascular approach as an adjunct to conventional surgical treatment of iliac aneurysms. Methods. In response to the life-threatening tendency to rupture of iliac aneurysms over 3-3.5 cm in diameter, 58 patients were given traditional surgery in 1979-96 and later (1997 - June 1999) in a second group of 16 patients, half (8) were given conventional and 8 endovascular surgical treatment. Results. Of the total number of 66 conventionally treated patients, no significant differences in surgical technique or results and no hospital deaths were identified. Complications included two occlusions of the treated area which were resolved by thrombectomy, two delayed revascularisations and one case of lymphorrhea from the inguinal incision. Of the 8 patients given endovascular surgery, a keyhole approach was employed in 5 cases and the femoral artery had to be exposed in two other cases: one that demanded simultaneous revascularisation of the peripheral circulation and the other involving the use of a particularly wide endovascular device. A nitinol-covered stent was used on all these patients and follow-up varied from 6 to 24 months. In 7 cases the exclusion of the aneurysm was instantaneous. In the one case of endoleak caused by reflux from the hypogastric artery, a CT scan four months later revealed spontaneous thrombisation of the aneurysmatic sac that had eliminated the leakage. In the one patient requiring isolation of the hypogastric artery, gluteal claudication developed but regressed spontaneously over a 3-month period. There were no postoperative complications of any kind. Conclusions. It was therefore concluded that while conventional surgery remains the treatment of choice for iliac aneurysms, the endovascular approach is a valid alternative in the right clinical and morphological conditions

Evaluation of fining efficiency of corn zeins in red wine: a preliminary study

The use of corn zeins, extracted from commercial maize flour under both reducing conditions, in fining a red wine was investigated and compared with two commercial animal gelatins (G1, non-hydrolyzed and G3, hydrolyzed). RZ, but not NRZ, showed a good fining actionin terms of decreasing turbidity and removing phenolic compounds such as anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins, indicating that protein reductionis needed for fining ability. The results indicate that zeins, if extracted from corn under reducing conditions, could be a good substitute for animal proteins in red wine fining

Resection of pulmonary metastases from colorectal carcinoma.

I.F.: 0,958 A retrospective study was made on 22 patients who underwent surgery (28 operations) for lung metastases of colorectal origin from 1986 to 1995 at the Department of Surgery II, Padova University. The overall 5-year survival (OS) following pulmonary resection was 62% and the 5-year disease-free interval after metastasectomy (DFIM) 45%. The median survival was 23.6 months and the median DFIM 15.3 months, Univariate (Mantel Cox) and multivariate (Cox's model) analyses were used to identify any prognostic factors significant for OS and DFIM. Site and stage of primary colorectal carcinoma, number of pulmonary metastases at presentation, disease-free intervals between treatment of primary tumour and diagnosis of lung metastases (DFIP) appeared to have no influence on OS and DFIM. However, patients who underwent radical resection for metastases had a significantly longer DFIM than those who underwent 'non-radical' resections (P = 0.02), but radical resection had no significant positive effect on OS, A short DFIP, multiple and/or bilateral lesions, lung metastases occurring after liver resection with a curative aim are not contraindications to surgery in patients with pulmonary metastases from colorectal cancer, the main criterion for selection of patients being the possibility of performing 'radical' resectio

Mass spectrometry detection of egg proteins in red wines treated with egg white

The need of label declaration for egg proteins is temporarily suspended when they are used as a processing aid in winemaking, because of a lack of scientific data concerning their actual permanence as residual proteins in fined wines.The possibility to detect residual egg proteins in red wines treated with a commercial egg white preparation was studied. By using an immunochemical method residual egg proteins were detected in the experimental red wines only for doses of fining agent of 50 g/hL or higher, whereas no residual proteins were detected by this system in a commercial red wine. A simple method based on the recovery and identification of the wine fining proteins by liquidchromatography coupled with tandem MS (LC-MS/MS) in a gel-free approach was developed. This allowed the detection of egg proteins in red wines fined down to 5 g/hL of commercial egg white preparation and also in the commercial red wine. These results indicate that the analytical approach here suggested is superior to the immunochemical methods in detecting egg proteins in wines. Therefore hypersensitivity reactions after consumption of wines treated with egg proteins can be a real risk for eggallergic people

The role of adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in gastric carcinoma.

I.F.: 0,24