Association between threatened pre-term labour and periodontal disease: does a relationship exist? A matched case-control study.

AIM: The relationship between periodontal disease and preterm labour has been target of several studies with contrasting findings. The aim of this study is to verify the association between periodontal diseases in pregnant women and threatened preterm labour (TPL). METHODS: Two hundred and twenty pregnant women were enrolled in a matched prospective case-control study. Matching factors were age, parity and date of admission. Cases were defined as women admitted with a diagnosis of TPL before the 37th week; controls were defined as women with term labour (= or > 37 weeks) in the same ward. Primary exposure was defined as the presence of at least one tooth with probing depth (PD) >6 mm and BOP+. Average pocket depth, full-mouth bleeding on probing (FMBS) and the presence of plaque (FMPS) were also investigated. Matched univariate (McNemar's test and Wilcoxon signed rank test) and multivariate (conditional logistic regression model) analyses were performed. RESULTS: At least one PD >6 mm BOP+ was found in 30 TPL cases (27.3%) and 37 controls (33.6%), without significant difference (P=0.27). There was also no difference was found in shallow pockets. The average pocket depth was similar in TPL cases (2.67 mm) and controls (2.78 mm) (P=0.29). The average FMPS was 56.4% in the cases and 50.7% in the controls, while FMPS was 36.5% and 39.6%, respectively, though these differences are not statistically significant (P=0.26 and P=0.42, respectively). CONCLUSION: From our study, there seems to be no association between threatened pre-term labour and periodontal disease.

[Hepatic and renal trauma: importance of arteriography in diagnosis and treatment]. / I traumi del fegato e del rene: importanza dell'arteriografia in diagnosi e terapia.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to show the importance of non-invasive approach in diagnosis and treatment of renal and hepatic trauma, using arteriography as primary treatment in moderate-severe grade injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We observed 24 cases of hepatic and renal trauma in four hospitals in Rome in the 1996. Trauma were classified about their type and gravity (11-19) and ATLS classification for emodinamical conditions (1) were used to classify patients (Tab. I). RESULTS: 12 patients were treated with surgery because of their unstable haemodinamical conditions (III IV classes of ATLS classification) (1). Four patients were treated by arteriographical embolization (in two cases arteriography was primary used) with complete solution of sintomatology. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Arteriography was an importance procedure in non surgical treatment of hepatic and renal trauma in haemodinamically stable patients. In our study patients treated with arteriographic embolization were definitively restored from hemorrhage. In diagnosis and treatment of these injuries was essential the team collaboration between radiologists and surgeons.

[The role of echography in assessing abdominal trauma: the experience of 1750 cases]. / Ruolo dell'ecografia nella valutazione dei traumi addominali: esperienza di 1750 casi.

The authors report their experience of 1750 ultrasonic examinations of the abdomen performed in emergency, showing the value and usefulness of echo-scans in the evaluation of abdominal traumas. Easy and quick to perform, it permits an accurate diagnosis with a low ratio of error. Particularly, ultrasonography gives the chance to operate in emergency patients with steady haemodynamic conditions and to follow up those with partial parenchymal lesions, monitoring the clinical status in order to properly choose between conservative treatment and delayed surgery.

[Possible role of altered levels of plasma docosahexaenoic acid in the pathogenesis of retinitis pigmentosa. Preliminary results]. / Possibile ruolo di alterati livelli dell'acido docosoexaenoico plasmatico nella patogenesi della retinite pigmentosa. Risultati preliminari.

Plasma samples obtained from Retinitis Pigmentosa (R.P.) patients and controls were assayed for docosahexaenoic acid (DXA), the major fatty acid in photoreceptor cells, in order to evaluate the possibility that abnormalities in PUFA metabolism could be involved in R.P. pathogenesis. Our preliminary results show levels of plasma DXA in dominantly inherited R.P. lower than in the recessive forms and controls.

Polyps of the colon in juvenile and young patients: histological type and C.E.A. content in relation to follow-up.

31 colonic polyps in 21 patients between 2 and 30 years of age removed by endoscopy were studied. The site, size, cytohistological characteristic and tissue CEA content of these polyps were evaluated. 58% of the polyps were located in the rectum and sigmoid, the remaining 42% were in the descending colon. At histological examination 13 polyps proved to be neoplastic, 3 of which had severe dysplasia. In 3 cases of juvenile hyperplastic hamartomatous polyps and in 5 cases of inflammatory polyps the tissue C.E.A. was low; in 13 neoplastic polyps it was in direct correlation with the degree of dysplasia. Moreover in 10 patients with neoplastic polyps, 5 presented further adenomas at follow-up, and in 3 of them the C.E.A. tissue content of the first polyps obtained was medium to high. The occurrence in young patients of polyps of the colon with C.E.A. content medium to high must be followed by endoscopic examination at close intervals.

Nuclear steroid receptors and dysplasia in adenomatous polyps of the colon as markers of high risk for malignant transformation.

To detect an early colon carcinoma in its stage of carcinoma in situ, colonoscopic examinations with removal of all adenomas of the left colon (particularly of the sigmoid tract and rectum), followed by histological and biochemical evaluations, have been performed on 30 patients. Two-thirds of the adenomas examined presented histological patterns of tubular, tubulovillous, and villous adenomas; those with moderate or severe dysplasia were at high risk of neoplastic transformation. Measurement of estradiol (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors was performed in the cytosol and in the nuclei of solitary and multiple adenomas and in those with synchronous carcinomas using the dextran-coated-charcoal (DCC) method. Steroid receptors were usually found in the cytosol of the large polyps of male rather than female patients (46% vs 11%) and in the cytosol of the adenomas with moderate or severe dysplasia in male patients. Malignant lesions usually possessed both ER and PR in the cytosol and nuclear fraction. These findings led to hypothesize that patients with adenomas of the colorectal tract with moderate or severe dysplasia and nuclear steroid receptors should be considered at high risk for colon carcinoma and therefore need a special follow-up program.