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Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) account for 1% of all gastrointestinal neoplasms and are the most common mesenchymal tumor of gastrointestinal tract. There are considered to originate fom the intestinal cell of Cajal, an intestinal pacemaker cell, characterized usually express the KIT protein on immunohistochemistry. The stomach (40-60%) and small intestine (30-40%) are the most common locations. Diagnosis of these tumors is difficult to establish, because symptoms are vague and traditional diagnostic tests are not specific. GISTs shows a wide variety of clinical behaviours ranging fom benign to frankly malignant, making the outcome totally unpredictable. Surgery is the standard treatment of local GIST while Imatinib (tyrosine kinasi inhibitor) is considered as the standard treatment of metastatic disease. Resistence to Imatinib is also becoming a major clinical problem but new tirosyne kinase inibitor are being studied to improve the treatment and survival. The present paper is a review of the salient features of epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, therapy and prognostic factors of GIST

Objective: We describe the technique, the benefits and the drawbacks of an original video-assisted thymectomy (VAT), performed through an inframammary cosmetic incision and median sternotomy in myasthenia gravis (MG) patients. This procedure is clinically valuable and cosmetically satisfactory so as to be very well accepted by patients, especially by young women. Minimal-access thymectomy has become increasingly popular as surgical treatment for patients with nonthymomatous myasthenia gravis because of its comparable efficacy, safety, and lesser degree of tissue trauma with conventional open surgery., Methods: We report a review/interview of 180 MG patients treated between 1993 and 2005. According to Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA), complete stable remission (CSR) and pharmacologic remission (PR) were calculated at the end of a minimal period of 12 months., Results: A clinical remission was obtained in 41.1% (CR 27.8%, PR 13.3%), who had been followed for at least 12 months from surgery. 95% of these patients judged their cosmetic results to be excellent or good., Conclusions: Thymectomy in MG video-assisted infra-mammary cosmetic incision has shown to be a useful surgical approach as demonstrated by the good functional and very good aesthetic results, associated with a very low morbidity and no mortality.

Malignant pleural effusion is a frequent condition with important prognostic repercussions on duration and quality of life. The neoplasms that more frequently determine pleural effusion are lung and breast cancer and pleural mesothelioma. Lymphomas, tumours of the genitourinary tract and gastrointestinal tract as a group account for a further 25%. Surgical treatment has palliative purposes and finalized to reduction symptoms and to improve quality of life. More frequent clinical presentation is a massive pleural efusion associated to dyspnoea and cough. Pleural aspiration is the first choice treatment but the recurrence rate equals to 100% within 1 month. Repeated pleural aspirations are indicated in those patients that have lower expectation of life. The recurrence risk can be reduced with chemical pleurodesis that allows the adhesion between pleural surfaces. Pleurodesis can be realized by the instillation of several substances by the tube of drainage (slurry) or during thoracoscopy (poudrage). Video Assisted Thoracoscopy (VATS) is a safe and well tolerated technique, a complication rate is lower than 0.5%, VATS can be used to obtain diagnosis and to treat patients with malignant pleural effusion and better expectation of life.

Nerve-sparing techniques and bladder substitution following radical cystectomy allow today to obviate functional sequelae once registered in this type of surgery. Intraoperative identification of the pelvic plexus, which provides autonomic innervation to the corpora cavernosa, is necessary to preserve sexual function. Ileal orthotopic bladder substitution with preservation of the distal urethral sphincter assures a micturition per urethram and the urinary continence. The Authors report their experience with the Studer and Zingg procedure (ileal orthotopic bladder reservoir) performed in 26 cases. Results, technique, complications, and long-term evaluation are stressed.