Search

Retroperitoneal lipomas are a heterogeneous group of mesenchymal tumors. They are usually large and occur most frequently in the retroperitoneal, perineal and pelvic regions. Lipomas grow slowly surrounding the retroperitoneal and pelvic organs, with a displacement of bowel and vascular axis. A case of a 61-year-old male patient which referred urinary frequency, urgency and nocturia is presented. Urodynamics evidenced a detrusor instability in a low capacity bladder. CT scan demonstrated a bladder dome compression due to a huge retroperitoneal mass extending from the right hepatic lobe to the hypogastric region and the right thigh. Surgical complete resection was performed: histology demonstrated a lipoma with areas of well differentiated myxoid degeneration. After surgery the irritative urinary symptoms disappeared. This is the first case described in literature of detrusor instability due to bladder compression by retroperitoneal lipoma.

Ten patients affected with HCV-related chronic hepatitis received alpha lymphoblastoid-IFN, 3 mU i.m. TW, for 12 months. We obtained: 4 complete responses, 5 partial responses, 1 non-response (therapy stopped after 3 months). During the fourteen months follow-up, 4 patients (1 complete responder, 3 partial responders) relapsed.

A case of central nervous system toxoplasmosis is reported. Attention is called to the diagnosis of this infection; moreover, the authors emphasize the importance of the TAC brain for the diagnosis and evaluation of the clinical evolution and response to the therapy.

The Authors report a case of leptospirosis. Stress is laid on the sporadicity of this infection in their region; attention is also drawn to the variety of the clinical expression of this disease.

Personal experience with a series of 69 cases of non-A, non-B viral hepatitis out of 164 cases of acute viral hepatitis observed at hospital admission between January 1985 and June 1988 is reported. Agreement is expressed with other Italian series as regards the incidence of sex, of the most involved age classes, of the most affected professional categories and of the incubation period of posttransfusional forms. The prevalence of sporadic forms over those transmitted intraparenterally and more prolonged course in icterus patients and in parenteral forms is pointed out.

Non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANB) is, after type B hepatitis, the most frequently encountered form of hepatitis. Parenteral transmission and apparently nonparenteral or "sporadic" forms are described. The epidemiology of this new form of hepatitis is examined in the light of personal experience and of reported data.

A case of induced pemphigus occurring in a patient affected with a brucellosis is reported with emphasis on the definitive remission of the pemphigus after antibiotic therapy against brucellosis and in the absence of corticosteroid treatment. Attention is also drawn to a possible autoimmune mechanism of the pemphigus triggered by brucellosis.

The authors have studied the behaviour of the Immunoglobulins and of the hemoagglutination-inhibiting and complement-fixing antibodies in 9 subjects suffering from a complicated form of parotitis and coming from the same epidemic focus. A considerable movement of antibodies was noticed, while contrary to the findings of other authors, an increase in the IgA was not evident.

A case of visceral leishmaniasis in a female patient suffering from acute nonlymphoid leukaemia is reported. Stress is laid on the atypical nature of the clinical picture, falsified by the underlying disease, and attention is called to the behaviour of Leishmania as an opportunistic agent in the immunodepressed host.

The Authors considering four cases of obstructive jaundice with hepatocellular onset, point out the possibility of errors and of misleading diagnostic views resulting from the excessive credit given to the increase of serum transaminases also in viral hepatitis diagnosis.

The behaviour of serum immunoglobulins in 35 patients suffering from Mediterranean exanthematous has been studied. No particular quantitative or qualitative change lieve noted. Supported by the scanty and contrasting data in existing literature, it is maintained that aspecific immunological serum doses are of little use, but research is urged into specific antibodies by means of indirect immunofluorescence and the Elisa method.

In the light of the international literature and personal observation, the diagnostic techniques employed in Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia (PCP), a major opportunistic infection of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are reviewed.

The importance of perinatal infection in the mother-foetus transmission of HbsAg positive hepatitis is stressed. The role of type A hepatitis has no influence and that of the NANB is little known. The Authors maintain that in no case is the hepatitis virus a valid motive for the interruption of pregnancy, even when it occurs in the first months of gestation.