Non small-cell lung cancer with metastasis to thigh muscle and mandible: two case reports

INTRODUCTION: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in Europe and the US. Isolated metastases to skeletal muscle and the mandible are very uncommon. CASE PRESENTATION: This report presents two cases. Case 1 concerns a 45-year-old Caucasian woman affected by muscle metastasis of the right thigh from non-small-cell lung cancer. Case 2 concerns a 61-year-old Caucasian man affected by mandible metastasis from non-small-cell lung cancer. Both metastases were detected by diagnostic imaging studies. Both patients were treated with radiation therapy with palliative and antalgic intent. CONCLUSION: Radiation therapy was effective and well tolerated in both cases. Both our patients are alive, with follow-up of 18 months and five months, respectively

Decellularized Human Dermal Matrix as a Biological Scaffold for Cardiac Repair and Regeneration.

The complex and highly organized environment in which cells reside consists primarily of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that delivers biological signals and physical stimuli to resident cells. In the native myocardium, the ECM contributes to both heart compliance and cardiomyocyte maturation and function. Thus, myocardium regeneration cannot be accomplished if cardiac ECM is not restored. We hypothesize that decellularized human skin might make an easily accessible and viable alternate biological scaffold for cardiac tissue engineering (CTE). To test our hypothesis, we decellularized specimens of both human skin and human myocardium and analyzed and compared their composition by histological methods and quantitative assays. Decellularized dermal matrix was then cut into 600-mm-thick sections and either tested by uniaxial tensile stretching to characterize its mechanical behavior or used as three-dimensional scaffold to assess its capability to support regeneration by resident cardiac progenitor cells (hCPCs) in vitro. Histological and quantitative analyses of the dermal matrix provided evidence of both effective decellularization with preserved tissue architecture and retention of ECM proteins and growth factors typical of cardiac matrix. Further, the elastic modulus of the dermal matrix resulted comparable with that reported in literature for the human myocardium and, when tested in vitro, dermal matrix resulted a comfortable and protective substrate promoting and supporting hCPC engraftment, survival and cardiomyogenic potential. Our study provides compelling evidence that dermal matrix holds promise as a fully autologous and cost-effective biological scaffold for CTE

Outcomes of COVID-19 patients treated with continuous positive airway pressure outside ICU

Aim We aim at characterizing a large population of Coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) patients with moderate-to-severe hypoxemic acute respiratory failure (ARF) receiving CPAP outside intensive care unit (ICU), and ascertaining whether the duration of CPAP application increased the risk of mortality for patients requiring intubation. Methods In this retrospective, multicentre cohort study, we included COVID-19 adult patients, treated with CPAP outside ICU for hypoxemic ARF from March 1 st to April 15th, 2020. We collected demographic and clinical data, including CPAP therapeutic goal, hospital length of stay (LOS), and 60- day in-hospital mortality. Results The study includes 537 patients with a median age of 69 (IQR, 60-76) years. Males were 391 (73%). According to predefined CPAP therapeutic goal, 397 (74%) patients were included in full treatment subgroup, and 140 (26%) in the do-not intubate (DNI) subgroup. Median CPAP duration was 4 (IQR, 1-8) days, while hospital LOS 16 (IQR, 9-27) days. Sixty-day in-hospital mortality was overall 34% (95%CI, 0.304-0.384), and 21% (95%CI, 0.169-0.249) and 73% (95%CI, 0.648-0.787) for full treatment and DNI subgroups, respectively. In the full treatment subgroup, in-hospital mortality was 42% (95%CI, 0.345-0.488) for 180 (45%) CPAP failures requiring intubation, while 2% (95%CI, 0.008- 0.035) for the remaining 217 (55%) patients who succeeded. Delaying intubation was associated with increased mortality [HR, 1.093 (95%CI, 1.010-1.184)]. Conclusions We described a large population of COVID-19 patients treated with CPAP outside ICU. Intubation delay represents a risk factor for mortality. Further investigation is needed for early identification of CPAP failures

La esposizione ai campi elettromagnetici in ambienti di lavoro e di vita

Contributo nella Prevenzione e protezione dai possibili effetti avversi alla salute ed al benessere umano,della esposizione ai CEM. L'organismo umano immerso in CEM è esposto ad interazione, effetti biologici e/o sanitari da accoppiamento con le cariche elettriche e correnti presenti nei tessuti biologici. I possibili effetti sanitari a breve e lungo termine sono oggetto di misure di prevenzione e protezione dei lavoratori e della popolazione.Il D.81/08 dispone misure di sicurezza nella esposizione dei lavoratori ai CEM da0Hza300 GHz durante il lavoro;considera gli effetti nocivi a breve termine nel corpo umano (correnti indotte, assorbimento di energia,correnti di contatto), non a lungo termine nè i rischi da contatto di conduttori in tensione. i Valori Limite di esposizione ai campi elettromagnetici, sono suddivisi in base alle frequenze e ai possibili effetti sull’organismo. In particolare, si articolano in:- Valori Limite di Esposizione per la densità di corrente, per i campi variabili nel tempo fino a 1 Hz, (prevenzione degli effetti sul sistema cardiovascolare e sul sistema nervoso centrale);- Valori Limite di esposizione per la densità di corrente per frequenze comprese fra 1 Hz e 10 MHz (prevenzione degli effetti sul sistema nervoso);- Valori Limite di esposizione per il SAR per frequenze fra 100 kHz e 10 GHz, (prevenzione dello stress termico al corpo intero ed eccessivo riscaldamento localizzato dei tessuti). Per frequenze fra 100 kHz e 10 MHz, i Valori Limite di Esposizione previsti si riferiscono sia alla densità di corrente che al SAR;- per frequenze fra 10 GHz e 300 GHz i VLE considerano la densità di potenza (prevenzione dell'eccessivo riscaldamento dei tessuti della superficie del corpo o in prossimità della stessa. Si descrive una esperienza specifica di monitoraggio in ambiente di lavoro a bordo nave, per il suo significato tematico di generale applicabilità