Multiple congenital malformations in a dicephalic spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca ibera).

A 22-day-old dicephalic spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca ibera) died following a history of lethargy, anorexia and absence of defecation. The two heads were anatomically similar with independent reaction to external stimuli. The carapace showed doubled first and extra second vertebral scutes. Radiography and transplastronal ultrasonography, performed when the animal was alive, revealed two symmetrical stomachs and two asynchronous hearts. These findings were confirmed by necropsy examination. Oesophagus, liver, gallbladder and trachea were also duplicated. Other malformations included pyloric valve atresia of the left stomach, focal stenosis of the transverse colon and liver hypoplasia. Dicephalism rarely occurs in Testudinidae and its pathogenesis, still unclear, is discussed.

Mesenteric desmoid with uptake on gallium-67 citrate scintigraphy.

A 72-year-old man was hospitalized for further evaluation of a space-occupying lesion in the abdomen. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a tumor 40 mm in diameter in the abdomen. Anterior Ga-67 citrate scintigraphy revealed a region of accumulation of radioactivity in the abdomen corresponding to the tumor. Mesenteric desmoid was diagnosed on the basis of histological findings for the excised tumor. These finding suggested that mesenteric desmoid may be one of the tumors which show high uptake of Ga-67.

[Listeria monocytogenes meningitis. Description of a clinically significant case]. / Meningite da listeria monocytogenes. Descrizione di un caso clinico significativo.

Meningitis caused by Listeria monocytogenes is a rare affection: it develops from close contagion as professional illness (veterinarians, butchers) or in newborns by infected mothers; in indirect way for ingestion of contaminated food in subjects at high risk: elderly, immunosuppressed patients, alcoholics, diabetics. Clinically it is not diversified from the other bacterial meningitises. In this paper we present a case of Listeria monocytogenes meningitis in an adult female, without a sure occasion of infection and in absence of the factors of typical risk.

[Rheumatoid arthritis with cervical localization. Description of a case with neurological symptomatology and review of the literature]. / L'artrite reumatoide a localizzazione cervicale. Descrizione di un caso con sintomatologia neurologica e revisione della letteratura.

A case of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis with a cranio-cervical junction involvement is presented. Medullary compression was present and was partially invalidating. Radiological and CT scan signs are explained and their relationship with a clinical symptomatology is discussed. The importance of radiological monitoring is emphasised in order to avoid dangerous neurological complications.

[Risk factors and sensitivity to certain antibiotics in hospital urinary infections]. / Fattori di rischio e sensibilità ad alcuni chemioantibiotici nelle infezioni urinarie ospedaliere.

Urinary infections contracted in hospital are one of the most important health problems. The present paper looks at 549 hospitalised patients and 548 subjects referred to the laboratory for routine tests over a period of 6 months. The results showed a higher number of hospital infections in the Medicine Department and this number was directly proportional to certain risk factors such as the presence of a catheter at home, the greater age of patients and a poorer physical condition. The strains most frequently isolated were E. coli and Pseudomonas spp although percentages were different between out-patients and hospitalised patients. The infections in question might be reduced and, at least partially, controlled by means of stricter hygiene on the part of personnel and by a moderate use of vesical catheterism.

[Adaptation to a rapeseed oil enriched diet as shown by the mitochondrial oxidation rate in the heart (author's transl)]. / Adattamento a diete ad elevato contenuto di olio di colza evidenziato dalla respirazione mitocondriale in cuori di ratto

40 wistar rats were divided into two groups which had been fed one year earlier a diet in which 30% of the caloric intake consisted of rapeseed oil and peanut oil respectively. Both groups were then fed a diet of 30% peanut oil for five months and then fed a normal diet for seven months. At this time each of the two main groups was subdivided into four smaller groups, each group receiving a different diet: one of 25% rapeseed oil, one of 25% peanut oil, one of 25% butter, and one internal control group. At the end of the experiment the rats were sacrificed by decapitation. One portion of each heart was used for measuring its fatty acid content and the remaining portion was used for preparing sarcosomes on which the exigen consumption was measured polarographically. It was found that no erucic acid was present in the hearts of the rats fed rapeseed oil one year previously, and then then refed the same diet in the present experiment. The mitochondrial respiratory activity of the treated rats did not show any significant difference with respect to the found in the control groups, unlike the first experiment.

Drugs and brain mitochondrial enzymatic activities during post-natal development in rat.

The enzymatic activities of two mitochondrial enzymes, i.e. succinate dehydrogenase and NADH-cytochrome c reductase were investigated in the brain of rats at different stages of post-natal development. In addition, the effect of the pharmacological treatment with two drugs, nicergoline and bamethan, able to interact with the alpha or the beta receptors respectively, was evaluated. The results show that both the enzymatic activities rapidly increase in the first days of extra-uterine life, thus indicating an adaptation of mitochondrial oxidative processes to post-natal environmental conditions. The pharmacological treatment with the two drugs does not induce any changes in the enzymatic activities tested.