[Laparoscopic colostomy, indications and technical notes]. / Colostomia laparoscopica: indicazioni e note di tecnica chirurgica.

The aim of this article was to review the main indications of laparoscopic colostomy. A series of 9 patients is reported, stressing the technical steps of laparoscopic colostomy. The laparoscopic approach in patients with unresectable colorectal cancer permit to avoidance mayor laparotomy. In conclusion this technique appears safe, feasible and effective.

[Elective and emergency minimally invasive surgery in pleural diseases]. / La chirurgia mininvasiva nella patologia pleurica di elezione e d'urgenza.

In the last years the video-assisted thoracic surgery (V.A.T.S.) assumed an important order for the diagnosis and treatment of the pleural disease. In this particular field, the procedure allows obtaining almost the same outcomes of traditional surgery and is very safety. V.A.T.S. reduces hospital time and trauma with a fast return to the working life. The Authors describe their experience and outline the diagnostic and therapeutic indications for the treatment of choice and emergency.

[Reconstruction of the thoracic wall]. / La ricostruzione della parete toracica.

The resection of the thoracic wall for cancer, traumas or results of radiotherapy could require a reconstruction of the same wall with prosthetic material of different nature to the purpose of protect the important intrathoracic structures, avoid the flail chest and maintain a ventilation adjusted with aesthetically acceptable results. Numerous and varied they have been and they are the materials used to such aim, but the more numerous experiences concern the reconstructions of the wall with the employment of nets of Marlex or the patch of Gore-Tex. In the complete two years eight patients have arrived at our observation in which a prosthetic reconstruction has been performed with heterologous material. In three of them has been used the net of Marlex, in five the patch of Gore-Tex of two millimeters of thickness. The prostheses have stayed well you bear and in all the patients the authors have gotten a good stabilization of the thoracic wall.

[Treatment of leg ulcers with fibrin glue]. / Trattamento delle ulcere degli arti inferiori con colla di fibrina.

The work is based on two years studied cases. It consists of 80 patients between 35 and 80 years old with leg ulcers (73.8% women and 26.2% men). In 80% of patients this affection is due to a venous disease. In 10% of cases the cause was an arterial insufficiency of the lower extremity. Lymphatic and extravascular diseases are rarely involved. A group of 54 patients was treated with a traditional method. In the remaining 26 patients we used fibrin glue. Leg ulcers are an evolutive chronic pathology characterized by slow recovery. This means expensive social and therapeutic costs. From this point of view the treatment with fibrin glue, weekly applied, besides reducing pain, has a favourable impact on the outcome, times of re-epithelialization are shortened.

Levamisole: known effects on the immune system, clinical results, and future applications to the treatment of cancer.

Levamisole has been used in a wide array of clinical research and treatment settings over the past two decades, ranging from such diseases as helminthic infestations to various autoimmune diseases. Numerous preclinical evaluations and clinical trials with levamisole in the cancer arena have been sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and other agencies worldwide with the hopes of demonstrating anticancer activity. Trials in advanced breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, melanoma, and lymphoproliferative diseases have generally been negative or inconclusive. However, there is some indication that levamisole may be useful by itself as an adjuvant therapy for resected melanoma; recently it has been shown to be effective in combination with fluorouracil (5-FU) as adjuvant therapy for tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage III (Dukes' C) colon carcinoma. In the aggregate, the past 20 years of clinical experience with levamisole has resulted in as many questions as answers. However, further testing of the anticancer activity of levamisole can be expected in clinical research trials over the next few years. Hopefully, these future trials will include studies of the mechanisms of action of this agent.

[Primary lymphoma of the breast]. / Il linfoma primitivo della mammella.

Analysis of 5 cases of primary breast lymphoma highlights the marked rarity of the lesion and the extreme difficulty of pre-operative diagnosis. It is also shown that the disease generally runs a rapid course and that prognosis is usually unfavourable. The most effective treatment appears to be a combination of surgery and radiation therapy, while chemotherapy--although widely used--still requires further confirmation.

[Lymphangioma of the spleen. Apropos of 2 cases]. / Il linfangioma della milza. A proposito di due osservazioni.

On the basis of two observed cases and a review of the literature, the extreme rarity of cystic lymphangioma of the spleen is pointed out. The presumed pathogenesis of the condition is described as are its greater frequency among the young, the possibility of dangerous complications and its non-malignity. The superiority of non-invasive instrumental diagnosis (echotomography and CAT) over traditional techniques is reported. Finally splenectomy is identified as the therapy of choice.

[Biliary peritonitis without perforation]. / Peritonite biliare senza perforazione.

The extreme rarity of this condition is shown and its anatomopathological and clinical features described. Conclusive diagnosis is impossible to formulate preoperatively and emergency surgery is necessary to avoid complications which are always serious in biliary peritonitis. Finally the observed clinical case is described.