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Between the 1970s and the 1990s, women’s studies research and theoretical confrontations became common both inside and outside Italian universities, producing a substantial cultural and scientific inheritance. However, the teaching of such content had to follow an accidental path deprived of any institutional visibility. Women’s studies was forced to adapt itself to existing didactic structures, ‘hidden’ inside single courses and single disciplines, without being evident itself in the university. Only in the late 1990s did such studies become institutionally formalized. Nowadays, there is a rapid growth in women’s studies in Italy, thanks particularly to the course,Women Politics and Institutions, created in 2004. In this Open forum, the authors try to suggest what future scenarios might look like, anticipating a not yet realized horizon.

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Objective: To investigate the possible link between the G20210A prothrombin gene variant and different forms of ischaemic heart disease. Design: Phenotype-specific meta-analysis of 19 studies published within March 2002, globally including 4944 patients and 7090 controls. Sample size, inclusion criteria, geographical location, clinical presentation, age, cardiovascular risk factors, and angiographic extent of disease were extracted from each study. Analyses were done according to Mantel-Haenszel. Results: Overall, the odds ratio (OR) for unspecified ischaemic heart disease associated with the 20210A allele was 1.21 (95% confidence interval (Cl) 0.99 to 1.59, n = 12 034). Similar findings were seen for acute coronary syndromes (unstable angina and myocardial infarction) and for myocardial infarction without age limits (OR 1.24, 95% Cl 0.98 to 1.63, n = 10 240; and OR 1.19, 95% Cl 0.93 to 1.58, n = 9765). The effects were similar in male and female subjects. In the 1931 subjects < 55 years of age, the OR for myocardial infarction increased to 1.77 (95% Cl 1.16 to 3.42) and in the 1359 subjects < 45 years to 2.30 (95% Cl 1.27 to 4.59). No significant association was found between the 20210A allele and the presence of angiographically documented coronary disease (OR 1.08, 95% Cl 0.70 to 1.64, n = 3444). However, patients with 0/1 vessel disease at angiography showed a greater prevalence of the A allele than those with multivessel disease (relative risk 2.0, 95% Cl 1.2 to 3.1, n = 2376). Conclusions: G20210A prothrombin gene polymorphism may represent a modest but significant risk factor for myocardial infarction at yaung ages and favour the expression of ischaemic heart disease among individuals who have a limited extent of coronary atherosclerosis at angiography.

Aims: To investigate the prevalence of the G20210A prothrombin and G1691A factor V gene variants in patients with acute coronary syndrome stratified according to risk factor profile and to extent of coronary disease, in comparison with matched healthy controls. Methods and Results: The 20210 prothrombin and the 1691 factor V loci were genotyped in 247 patients ≤65 years of age (190 myocardial infarction and 57 unstable angina as first presentation of disease) and in 247 healthy age- and sex-matched controls. The prevalence of the 1691A factor V allele was similar in cases and controls. The frequency of heterozygotes for the 20210A prothrombin allele was 6·5% among patients and 2·8% among controls (OR 2·4, 95% CI 1·0-5·9), increasing to 8·7% in patients with a family history of myocardial infarction (OR 3·3, 95% CI 1·2-9·1), to 9·9% in patients (n=81) with ≤1 vessel disease (OR 3·8, 95% CI 1·3-10·8), and to 13·0% in patients who were normocholesterolaemic, non-diabetic, normotensive and non-smokers (OR 5·1, 95% CI 1·2-21·4). Conclusions: These findings suggest that the 20210A prothrombin allele represents an inherited risk factor for acute coronary syndrome among patients who have limited extent of coronary disease at angiography or who lack major metabolic and acquired risk factors. © 2001 The European Society of Cardiology.

Membrane glycoprotein (GP) Ia/IIa mediates platelet adhesion to collagen. The linked C807T/G873A polymorphisms in the GP Ia gene are correlated with a variable expression of the platelet surface receptor, the 807 TT/873 AA genotype being associated with a higher receptor density. Our study aimed to evaluate the possible role of the GP Ia C807T/G873A polymorphism as a risk factor for acute coronary syndrome in the Italian population. We investigated 157 patients with acute coronary syndrome (117 with myocardial infarction and 40 with severe unstable angina) as the first manifestation of coronary disease occurring before 65 years of age, compared with 312 healthy controls. All individuals were of Italian ancestry and were genotyped for the GP Ia C807T/G873A polymorphism. Complete linkage between the 807 and 873 sites was found in all samples. The 807 TT genotype was present in 12.7% of cases and in 4.8% of controls; the odds ratio for acute coronary syndrome was 2.9 (95% CI 1.4-5.8) for the 807 TT genotype compared with C-allele carriers and 0.6 (95% CI 0.4-0.9) for the 807 CC genotype compared with T-allele carriers. For the TT genotype, compared with CC homozygotes, the increase in risk was 3.4-fold in patients with at least one risk factor (smoking, hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes, systemic hypertension) and 4.1-fold in patients with angiographically diagnosed two- or three-vessel disease. We conclude that the GP Ia 807 TT (873 AA) genotype is associated with an increased risk of acute coronary syndrome in the Italian population; conversely, the GP Ia 807 CC (873 GG) genotype seems to represent a protective factor.

Four pregnant women with antithrombin III congenital deficiency underwent thrombosis prophylaxis including oral anticoagulants administered from the 16-18th week to the 36-37th week of pregnancy, subcutaneous heparin before the 16-18th week and after the 36-37th week, and a single infusion of AT III concentrate in the peripartum period in order to obtain a minimal level of 0.8 U/ml of AT III functional activity. The level of circulating AT III after the concentrate infusion needs to be evaluated by functional methods, because of a consistent amount in the concentrates of inactive AT III immunoreactive material. No thrombotic or haemorrhagic complication occurred after starting prophylaxis in any woman either in any newborn.