A primary squamous cell carcinoma of the trachea: case report and review of the literature.

Primary windpipe tumour is extremely rare. Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common malignant form, especially in smokers. The radiological appearance of these neoplasms can be classified as intra-luminal, wall-thickening, exophytic form; the majority of the lesions are obstructive in nature and then tend to extra-luminal invasion. This tumour is usually diagnosed late on account of delayed specific symptoms: haemoptysis, dyspnoea, coughing, hoarseness, stridor. Surgery, followed by adjuvant radiotherapy, is the treatment of choice; primary radiotherapy, in inoperable cases, can represent a curative management option. A case of primary tracheal cancer is described and a review of the literature is presented.

[Spinal cord and cauda equina compression in 2 patients with beta-thalassemia intermedia]. / Compression médullaire et de la queue de cheval chez deux patients atteints de béta-thalassémie intermédiaire.

Spinal cord compression as a consequence of mass lesions due to extramedullary hematopoiesis is a well described but rare syndrome occurring in thalassemia and some other hematologic conditions. The authors report two cases of patients with a genetic variant of beta-thalassemia, who suffered from a progressive compression of the spinal cord in one case, of the cauda equina in the other caused by epidural hematopoietic tissue. The first patient recovered after partial surgical removal of this tissue and subsequent radiotherapy. The second one recovered after only radiotherapy.

[Selenium in the full-term and premature newborn infant]. / Il selenio nel neonato a termine e nel pretermine.

The following observations can be made on the basis of findings relating to selenium in serum samples taken from 55 neonates (35 born at term and 20 born pre-term): 1) the blood concentration of selenium in neonates born at term showed no substantial difference to that reported by other authors; moreover, there were no sex or birthweight-dependent variations, and no correlations were found with either the mother's age or the mode of engendering procreation; 2) the blood concentration of selenium in neonates born pre-term was 30% lower than that found in neonates born at term; it was correlated with gestational age and birthweight, but not with sex, mother's age or the mode of engendering procreation. It will be worthwhile continuing these tests in order to identify possible therapeutic uses of selenium in cases of deficiency.

Biomechanical considerations of multiple-component hip prostheses. Analysis of three failures of the Lippman transfixation hip prosthesis.

Three cases are presented and analyzed in which a Lippman Transfixion Hip Prosthesis had to be replaced because of the discomfort of the patient. In each case, there was evidence of wear between the head of the prosthesis and the flange. The different wear patterns indicated problems which exist in the alignment of component parts of the prosthesis. In each case there was low grade sepsis to which the debris may have contributed. Because of phagocytosis, amount of debris accumulation was difficult to evaluate. The factors which appear to have contributed to the amount of debris accumulation were: the length of time the prosthesis had been used; the degree of alignment and amount of debris which may be formed and is phagocytized; the degree of manufacturing control. The design of this prosthesis incorporated mechanical problems which are generally undesirable because of: the eventual deformation of the end of the pivot rod or hole in the head of the prosthesis: progressive loosening of the movement due to this and inherent malalignment; the difficulty in fabrication, assembly and installation of the prosthesis because of the multiplicity of parts; the difficulty in maintaining adequate control of surface finishes.