[Thymoma: diagnosis and surgical treatment]. / Timomi: diagnostica e terapia chirurgica.

Thymoma is the most common primary neoplasm of the tymus. The majority of thymomas are encapsulated masses and exhibit benign behavior. Less frequently they may be invasive, or rarely they may metastasize to distant sites. The usual clinical presentation is that of an anterior mediastinal mass found accidentally in an asymptomatic patient. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance may be helpful in the evaluation of adjacent structures. The histologic classification proposed by Muller-Hermelink is useful in predicting and defining the risk of invasiveness of thymomas showing a significant correlation between tumor cell type and stage. The treatment of choice is complete surgical excision; radiation therapy may be used adjunctively to surgery in the treatment of invasive tumors. The choice of surgical approach is conditioned by site and grading of thymoma. The prognosis of encapsulated thymoma is generally favorable; invasive tumors are associated with a worse prognosis but may respond to radical resection.

[Cystic lymphangioma: a case report of abdominal location]. / Linfangioma cistico: un caso a localizzazione addominale.

A case of cystic lymphangioma is reported, located on the mesentery of the jejunum in a fifty-seven year old patient. The lymphangioma is an extremely rare disease and it is often located in the neck and arm pit. An intra abdominal and mediastinal location takes place in just 5% of the examined cases. Pre operative exams are taken into account; computerized (Axial) tomography and echo tomography have made diagnosis possible. The surgical therapy is the preferred treatment; no therapeutic options exist. The radical extirpation of the mass becomes necessary to avoid relapses.

[Foreign bodies in the alimentary tract. Surgical treatment]. / I corpi estranei del canale alimentare. Trattamento chirurgico.

Gastro-intestinal foreign bodies are a by no means rare event in surgery and in the USA mortality is about 1500 people per annum. The surgical treatment of foreign bodies in the alimentary tract is reported here. Certain cases of voluntary ingestion in mental patients are reported, comparing personal experience with the data reported in the literature.

[Evaluation of the operative risk of gastric tumor surgery at an advanced age. Retrospective study]. / La valutazione del rischio operatorio nella chirurgia dei tumori gastrici in età avanzata. Studio retrospettivo.

A retrospective study was carried out in 41 over-70 year-olds who had been operated on for gastric cancer in 1984-86 at the General Surgery Division of Imola to see if age is an unfavourable prognostic factor in this situation. Age was not decisive in surgical results. Operative mortality is correlated with the degree of operative risk expressed on the basis of an analysis of the patient's biological state prior to the operation and of the specific and aspecific effects of surgery.

[Bronchogenic cysts of the mediastinum]. / Le cisti broncogene del mediastino.

The case of a bronchial cyst found on the mediastinal carina whose early symptoms resulted from compression of the airways is reported. The clinical, pathogenic and diagnostic aspects of these often congenital cystic malformations of the mediastinum are discussed.

[Cancer of the colorectum in the aged. Clinical considerations with reference to our case series of 65 operated cases during the triennial, 1984-1986]. / Il cancro del colon retto nell'anziano. Considerazioni cliniche in riferimento alla nostra casistica di 65 casi operati nel triennio 1984-1986.

Starting from the note that in industrialised countries colorectal tumours are an increasingly serious problem, especially in the elderly, and after some epidemiological remarks, a personal series of 65 consecutive operations on over--70s in a three-year period is considered. Personal statistics are analysed following careful assessment of risk factors and the immediate and long-term surgical results, also examined on the basis of reported data. It is noted, first, that age is never an absolute contraindication to surgery; second that early diagnosis is basic for the achievement of an improved prognosis: proof of this lies in the excessive number of emergency operations for occlusion or perforation. On the other hand, while it is true that extreme radicalism at an advanced stage does not imply any substantial modification to prognosis, it should also be recognised that the shortening of surgical times (after the introduction of mechanical staplers and the improvement in anaesthesiological assistance techniques) offer greater scope for manoeuvre.