Critical shoulder angle (CSA): age and gender distribution in the general population.

OBJECTIVE: Anatomical parameters and pathologies that can affect the critical shoulder angle (CSA) are subjects of discussion. To date, we do not know if the CSA value changes in the different decades of life in a population characterized by the same ethnicity, nor if there are differences related to gender or side. This study hypothesizes that age and gender may affect the CSA. METHODS: Patients older than 15 years old affected by a shoulder trauma and who were discharged with a diagnosis of shoulder contusion were enrolled. A true AP view of the shoulder was obtained as well as data regarding age and gender of all participants. The CSA was measured by three authors, and interoperator reliability was assessed. Eight subcategories, according to decades of life, were considered. Finally, the studied population was divided into three subcategories according to CSA values (< 30°; 30-35°; ≥ 35°). RESULTS: The initial sample comprised 3587 shoulder X-rays. The interobserver reproducibility was high, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.865 (95% CI 0.793-0.915). Two thousand eight hundred seventy-three radiograms were excluded. The studied group comprised 714 patients [431 females, 283 males; mean age (SD): 47.2 (20.9) years, range: 11-93 years]. The mean CSA was 33.6° (range: 24-50°; SD: 3.9°). The mean CSA values in females and males were 33.7°and 33.5°, respectively. The mean CSA values of the right and left shoulders were 33.3° and 33.9°, respectively (p > 0.05). Linear regression analysis showed a CSA increase by 0.04° every year. The mean CSA in subjects aged between 15 and 19 years was significantly lower than all the other groups, except for patients older than 80 years. No significant differences were found between CSA subcategories, gender, or side. CONCLUSIONS: In the general population, the mean CSA value was 33.6°. No significant differences were found regarding the mean CSA value according to gender or side. A significant positive linear correlation between CSA and age was detected. In each decade of life, the CSA value, which is genetically determined, shows a large variability. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

Factors associated with climacteric symptoms in women around menopause attending menopause clinics in Italy.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain data on correlates of climacteric symptoms in women around menopause attending menopause clinics in Italy. METHODS: Since 1997 a large cross sectional study has been conducted on the characteristics of women around menopause attending a network of first level menopause outpatient's clinics in Italy. A total of 66,501 (mean age 54.4 years) women are considered in the present paper. RESULTS: The odds ratios of moderate and severe hot flashes/night sweats were lower in more educated women and (for severe symptoms only) in women reporting regular physical activity. Depression, difficulty to sleep, forgetfulness and irritability tended to be less frequent in more educated women and (depression only) in women reporting regular physical activity. Parous women reported more frequently these symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: This large study confirms in Southern European population that low education, body mass index and low physical activity are associated with climacteric symptoms. Parous women are at greater risk of psychological symptoms.

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes in women attending menopause clinics in Italy: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze risk factors for type 2 diabetes among women attending menopause clinics in Italy for counselling about the menopause. SUBJECTS: Women attending a network of first-level outpatient menopause clinics in Italy for general counselling about menopause or treatment of menopausal symptoms. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with no exclusion criteria. Type 2 diabetes was defined according to National Diabetes Data Groups Indications and the fasting blood glucose at an oral glucose tolerance test within the previous year. RESULTS: Out of the 44 694 considered in this analysis, 808 had a diagnosis of diabetes type 2 (1.8%). In comparison with women aged < 50 years, the multivariate odds ratios (OR) of type 2 diabetes were 1.31 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.99-1.74) for women aged 50-52 years, 1.66 (95% CI, 1.27-2.17) at 53-56 years and 2.84 (95% CI, 2.20-3.67) in women aged > or = 57 years. Type 2 diabetes was less frequently reported in more educated women (OR high school/university vs. primary school = 0.44 (95% CI, 0.36-0.55)). Being overweight was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. In comparison with women reporting a low level of physical activity, the multivariate OR of type 2 diabetes was 0.67 (95% CI, 0.54-0.84) for women reporting regular physical activity. In comparison with premenopausal women, the multivariate OR of type 2 diabetes was 1.38 (95% CI, 1.03-1.84) in women with natural menopause. This finding was present also after allowing for the potential confounding effect of age. The multivariate OR of diabetes for users of hormonal replacement therapy was 0.58 (95% CI, 0.46-0.73). CONCLUSIONS: This large cross-sectional study suggests that postmenopausal women are at higher risk of type 2 diabetes after allowance for the effect of age. Other main determinants of risk of type 2 diabetes in women around menopause were low socioeconomic status and being overweight. Diabetes was found less frequently in those taking hormone replacement therapy.

Malignant mixed müllerian tumor of the uterus. Features favoring its origin from a common cell clone and an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transformation mechanism of histogenesis.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Various histogenetic mechanisms have been postulated to explain the biphasic carcinomatous-sarcomatous appearance of malignant mixed mullerian tumors (MMMTs), but the nature of these uncommon neoplasms is still unclear. Some evidence would suggest that MMMT displays similarities with sarcomatoid carcinoma, a tumor arising in extragenital sites that also features a mixed appearance. To gain further insight into the histogenesis of this tumor, we have studied by immunohistochemistry a case of uterine MMMT showing an extensive rhabdomyosarcomatous component. METHODS: A panel of antibodies including reactivity for p53, cytokeratin, vimentin, desmin, muscle actin, epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), myoglobin, type IV collagen, laminin, and tenascin was applied to paraffin tumor sections by means of the avidin-biotin complex technique. RESULTS: p53 immunoreactivity was observed in approximately the same number of cells in carcinomatous and sarcomatous tissue. The former stained for vimentin, cytokeratin and EMA, while the latter, in addition to expressing vimentin, desmin, muscle actin and myoglobin, also exhibited immunoreactivity for epithelial markers such as cytokeratin and EMA. At the borders between carcinoma and sarcoma the basement membrane pattern, as seen by staining for type IV collagen and laminin, showed interruptions in correspondence with areas of transition between the two tissues. Antibody to tenascin strongly labeled the sarcomatous tissue immediately around carcinomatous elements. CONCLUSIONS: A similar immunoreactivity for p53 in both carcinomatous and sarcomatous components, expression of epithelial markers in the sarcomatous cells, and disruption of the basement membrane profile in areas of transition between carcinomatous and sarcomatous tissue, would all suggest, as has been postulated for extragenital sarcomatoid carcinomas, an origin from a common epithelial clone and an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transformation-based mechanism of development for this MMMT. In addition, these findings provide further analogies between these categories of tumors, supporting a unifying nosological concept for MMMTs and sarcomatoid carcinomas of non-genital tract origin.