Attitudes of Italian women concerning suppression of menstruation with oral contraceptives.

OBJECTIVES: Perceptions of menstruation vary according to culture and religion. This study addresses attitudes of Italian women towards changes in menstrual frequency induced by oral contraceptives (OCs) administered in an extended regimen. METHODS: Three-hundred-and-fifty healthy women of reproductive age were enrolled in three test areas in Italy. Participants completed a standardized questionnaire. One-hundred-and-ten men, aged 21-54 years, accompanying their partners to the gynaecological consultation were also given a questionnaire to get to know their opinion about the extended use of OCs by their partner. RESULTS: Only 32% of Italian women prefer to bleed monthly. The preferred frequencies in all age groups were 3-monthly (23.7%) or never (26%). Of the OC-users, 57.2% preferred to bleed less than once a month: 26% wished to bleed every 3 months, and 21.2% once a year. Among men, 58.1% considered an extended OC regimen to be acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: About 60% of Italian women with spontaneous or OC-driven cycles prefer to bleed less than monthly. This fact should be kept in mind by physicians when prescribing OCs.

Anti-C1q antibodies in pregnant patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: To study anti-C1q antibodies in pregnant patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to evaluate their prognostic significance for the occurrence of disease flares or pregnancy complications. METHODS: Twenty-one pregnancies in 19 SLE patients prospectively followed were analyzed. Disease activity was evaluated on the basis of the physician's intention to treat and a modified version of the ECLAM index. Anti-C1q and anti-dsDNA antibodies were detected in the sera by an ELISA assay. Antinuclear antibodies, anti-ENA antibodies, anticardiolipin antibodies and lupus anticoagulant were also performed. RESULTS: In all the patients the disease was inactive at the beginning of the pregnancy. Four flares of disease activity were observed in 4 pregnancies (19%) and obstetric complications were encountered in 7 pregnancies (43%). Anti-C1q antibodies were positive in 4 (19%) pregnancies and anti-dsDNA antibodies in 8 (38%). The presence of anti-phospholipid antibodies at the first assessment was correlated with the occurrence of obstetric complications (p<0.05). The presence of anti-C1q and anti-dsDNA antibodies at the first assessment had no prognostic significance for the occurrence of flares or obstetric complications during the course of pregnancy. Although the small number of patients studied did not allow for statistically significant analysis, flares appeared to be more likely to occur in patients presenting with anti-dsDNA or anti-C1q antibodies during pregnancy compared to patients with no changes in these antibody titers (43% vs 8% respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of anti-C1q and anti-dsDNA antibodies does not seem to be prognostic for the occurrence of flares during pregnancy. Further studies are warranted to explore this possibility.

Infrainguinal revascularization based on duplex ultrasound arterial mapping.

AIM: Recent reports have advocated duplex ultrasound arterial mapping (DUAM) as the sole preoperative imaging modality for planning infrainguinal revascularization. This study reports the outcome of arterial revascularization procedures for chronic limb ischemia based on DUAM. METHODS: From January 2002 to December 2004, 253 patients (175 men, 78 women) underwent infrainguinal revascularization based on DUAM. The indications for surgery were severe claudication (11%), rest pain (15%), gangrene (40%), non-healing ulcer (34%). Preoperative evaluation consisted of DUAM alone in 208 cases (82%) or a combination of DUAM and contrast arteriography (CA) in 30 (12%) and intraoperative angiography or direct exploration in 15 (6%). DUAM allowed imaging from the distal aorta to the pedal arteries and the selection of inflow and outflow bypass anastomosis sites. CA was deemed necessary due to technical difficulties or medico-legal reasons. RESULTS: DUAM procedure time averaged 90+30 min. Proximal anastomosis was located in common femoral arteries in 202 cases, popliteal in 51. Distal anastomosis was to the tibial arteries in 144 cases and pedal arteries in 109. Primary patency was 89% and 67% at 12 and 36 months. Secondary patency was 93% and 82% at 12 and 36 months. CONCLUSIONS: This experience shows that DUAM may be a safe alternative to CA for patients with chronic limb ischemia. Adequate training and experience is necessary to utilize this technique as the sole preoperative imaging modality for planning infrainguinal revascularization.

Pneumaturia in a patient with ectopic vas deferens opening in the bladder and agenesis of the ipsilateral seminal vesicle. Case report.

Ectopia of the vas deferens (EVD) combined with agenesis of the seminal vesicle, is a rare congenital abnormality. We describe a case of EVD with agenesis of the ipsilateral seminal vesicle, presenting with pneumaturia and frequent urinary tract infection.

Pregnancy outcome in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease: a preliminary study on 25 pregnancies.

Undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) is a group of systemic autoimmune conditions not fulfilling the classification criteria for a definite connective tissue disease (CTD). While an average of 20% of UCTD patients develop a defined CTD during follow-up, the remaining patients maintain an undefined disease. Since pregnancy is considered to be an important factor that may alter the course of autoimmune diseases, we examined 25 pregnancies in 20 UCTD patients being followed at our unit in order to evaluate: (i) the pregnancy outcome; (ii) whether pregnancy is associated with flares of disease activity; and (iii) whether pregnancy may be a trigger for the development of a defined CTD. Twenty-two pregnancies (88%) were successfully brought to term, while the remaining three (12%) ended in an abortion in the first trimester. Obstetric complications were observed in six out of the 22 successful pregnancies (27%). Six patients (24%) experienced a disease flare during pregnancy or puerperium, one of whom presented a major flare and developed systemic lupus erythematosus. In the other five patients the manifestations at flare were mild and included arthritis, fever and skin rash. The incidence of flares in a control population of non-pregnant UCTD patients over a period of 1 year was 7%. Although UCTD is a mild condition, the risk of flares during pregnancy appears increased and therefore careful monitoring is as necessary as in other CTD patients. Further prospective studies will be necessary to confirm these preliminary observations.

Fetal intracranial hemorrhage: is minor maternal trauma a possible pathogenetic factor?

OBJECTIVE: The occurrence of fetal intracranial hemorrhage before labor has been repeatedly observed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sonographic appearance of fetal intracranial hemorrhage in relation to its location. Possible causative factors were also evaluated. DESIGN: Five consecutive cases of fetal intracranial hemorrhage were identified at a single ultrasound unit between 1996 and 1999. In utero magnetic resonance imaging was also performed in four of these cases. Autopsy was performed after pregnancy termination or intrauterine fetal death (one case of each), and neurological follow-up was initiated in the three surviving infants. RESULTS: Hydrocephaly was the predominant sonographic finding associated with intraventricular or subependymal hemorrhage; sonography provided the correct diagnosis in the former (two cases), whereas magnetic resonance imaging was necessary in the latter. Massive intraparenchymal hemorrhage was depicted as an irregular echoic mass, whereas extradural hemorrhage had a cystic appearance. History of minor maternal physical trauma without maternal or placental injury was elicited in all cases. Ultrasound examinations performed before or shortly after the trauma were available in all cases and showed normal fetal anatomy. CONCLUSIONS: The sonographic appearance of fetal intracranial hemorrhage is variable, depending on its location. Even though sonography detected an intracranial anomaly in all cases, magnetic resonance imaging was necessary to establish the hemorrhagic nature of isolated subependymal and extradural hemorrhage. The similarity of histories involving minor maternal physical trauma in all cases, together with the absence of any known factor predisposing to fetal hemorrhage, may suggest that trauma is at least a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of fetal intracranial hemorrhage.

[Validity of PSA density of the transition zone in the diagnosis of prostate cancer]. / Validità del PSA density della zona di transizione nella diagnosi di cancro della prostata.

One hundred four patients (mean age 70.6 years) with prostatic specific antigen (PSA) values between 4 and 10 ng/ml (average 7.9 ng/ml), and with no suspects for neoplasia by digital rectal examination (DRE) and transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) were studied. In all patients PSA density for the entire prostate (PSAD) and PSA density for the transition zone (PSAT) were calculated. TRUS was performed using a 5 MHz probe. Prostate and transition zone volumes were obtained by ellipsoid formula. Aim of the study was to evaluate the PSAT predictivity for prostate cancer compared to the PSAD. Sixteen out of 104 patients (15.4%) had histologically confirmed prostate cancer, and 88 (84.6%) had benign prostatic hyperplasia. When cut-off for PSAD was 0.15 ng/ml/cc, specificity and sensitivity were respectively 75% and 68% with positive and negative predictive values of 54% and 17%; when cut-off for PSAT was 0.34% ng/ml/cc, sensitivity and specificity were respectively 100% and 68% with positive and negative predictive values of 60% and 18%. Our results, according to the literature data, suggest that PSAT seems to have a higher predictivity for prostate cancer than PSAD, providing an optimization for the employ of prostatic biopsy, especially for those patients with PSA values between 4 and 10 ng/ml.

Arsenic and all-trans retinoic acid as induction therapy before autograft in a case of relapsed resistant secondary acute promyelocytic leukemia.

Arsenic trioxide has recently been reported to be successful in the treatment of promyelocytic leukemia. Several concerns about the use of this toxic agent are currently reducing its potential clinical use even in severely ill patients. In this report we describe the results achieved by As2O3 with all-trans retinoic acid in a patient suffering from secondary, relapsed, resistant promyelocytic leukemia. Several complications, including sepsis and an extensive area of skin necrosis, did not allow us to treat the patient further with chemotherapy. With As2O3 and ATRA therapy, the patient obtained a complete molecular remission without any significant toxicity and, subsequently, it was possible to perform a bone marrow autograft in a state of complete remission.

Cost-effectiveness of neoadjuvant multimodal therapy in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma.

We conducted an incremental cost-effectiveness analysis to evaluate an adjuvant multimodal therapy (chemotherapy + radiotherapy) in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma undergoing surgery. We utilized the clinical data of a published controlled trial comparing preoperative chemotherapy + radiotherapy versus surgery alone. Information on costs was derived from local data and verified against reported values. Multimodal treatment was found to improve life expectancy by 196.9 discounted years every 100 subjects (survival gain of about 2 years per patient). Costs of this neoadjuvant therapy were estimated as $780,010 per 100 patients. Our cost-effectiveness analysis showed that the cost per life year gained was $3,961 for the multimodal therapy in comparison with surgery alone. The pharmacoeconomic profile of this therapeutic modality compares favorably with previous economic data calculated for other types of health care intervention.