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Only 29 cases of salivary gland carcinosarcoma de novo have been described in the English-language literature. We present a new case of parotid gland carcinosarcoma de novo and discuss diagnostic and treatment modalities of this pathologic entity. Our patient underwent total parotidectomy with facial nerve preservation, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. At 26-month follow-up, the patient presented no evidence of recurrence. One-third of the cases of salivary carcinosarcoma de novo died of the disease after a median period of 10 months. Although the number of cases is limited, the combination of radical surgical excision and radiotherapy seems currently the treatment of choice.

Respiratory fluoroquinolones are currently considered by several guidelines among the most effective antimicrobial agents for the treatment of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis. The aim of this study was to assess levofloxacin penetration into paranasal sinuses mucosa of 15 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis 1h (n = 4), 2 h (n = 5) and 3 h (n = 6) after a single 500 mg oral dose. Levofloxacin concentrations in plasma and tissue samples were assessed by means of HPLC. Median of mucosal concentrations were 0.96 mg l(-1) at 1 h, 2.50 mg l(-1) at 2 h, 5.84 mg l(-1) at 3 h. Average paranasal sinuses mucosa-to-plasma ratios raised from 1.46 at 1 h, to 1.81 at 2 h and to 2.56 at 3 h. These data are consistent with 500 mg oral levofloxacin ensuring appropriate therapeutic exposure in sinonasal tissue of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis, the concentrations between 1 and 3 h post-dosing being almost always higher than the MIC90 against the major bacterial pathogens responsible for upper respiratory tract infections.

Aims: Angiogenesis is essential for malignancies growth. CD105 is a proliferation-associated protein abundantly expressed in angiogenic endothelial cells. The aim of this study has been to determine the expression of CD105 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and to investigate the role of CD105-assessed mean vascular density (MVD) in predicting patients' prognosis., Methods: The sections of 43 consecutive cases of laryngeal SCC were stained with mouse monoclonal antibody CD105. All the measures were performed by a computer-based image analysis system. The percentage of the fields occupied by CD105-assessed micro-vessels was determined., Results: The mean CD105-assessed MVD were 11% and 6% in laryngeal SCC with and without malignancy recurrence, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression stated that CD105-assessed MVD was significantly related to disease recurrence (p=0.030)., Conclusions: Our preliminary results suggest that CD105-assessed MVD may be a valuable parameter for predicting patients having an increased risk of developing laryngeal carcinoma loco-regional recurrence.