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Background and purpose: Transient global amnesia (TGA) is characterized by a sudden onset of anterograde amnesia lasting up to 24 h. One major differential for TGA is transient epileptic amnesia, which typically lasts < 1 h. However, TGA can also be short in duration and little is known about the time trends, characteristics and prognosis of TGA cases lasting < 1 h. Methods: We compared the clinical features of TGA ascertained in two independent cohort studies in Oxfordshire, UK [Oxford cohort 1977–1987 versus Oxford Vascular Study (OXVASC) 2002–2018] to determine the time trends of clinical features of TGA. Results were validated in another independent contemporary TGA cohort in Italy [Northern Umbria TGA registry (NU) 2002–2018]. We compared the risk factors, clinical features and long‐term prognosis (major cardiovascular events, recurrent TGA and seizure/epilepsy) of patients presenting with episodes lasting < 1 h versus those lasting ≥ 1 h. Results: Overall, 639 patients with TGA were included (114 Oxford cohort, 100 OXVASC, 425 NU). Compared with the original Oxford cohort, there were more cases with TGA lasting < 1 h in OXVASC [32 (32.0%) vs. 9 (8.8%)] and NU (11.8% vs. 8.8% in Oxford cohort). In both OXVASC and NU, patient age, vascular risk factors and clinical features were largely similar between those with TGA lasting < 1 h versus those lasting ≥ 1 h. Moreover, there was no difference in the long‐term risk of seizure/epilepsy or major cardiovascular events between TGA lasting < 1 h versus TGA lasting ≥ 1 h. Conclusions: Short‐duration TGA episodes (<1 h) were not uncommon and were more frequent than in earlier studies. The clinical features and long‐term prognosis of short‐duration TGA did not differ from more typical episodes lasting ≥ 1 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The relationship between cutaneous malignancies and successive primary cancers has been studied since several years, but it still remains controversial. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the excess risk of multiple primary cancer among the population of Umbria, Italy, that survived a skin cancer. Methods The data registered in the Umbrian Population Cancer Registry from 1994 to 2006 were collected, recorded, and analysed in accordance to the standard methods recommended for cancer registries. Among skin cancer patients, those with multiple cutaneous and non-cutaneous cancers were selected. Only sites with a frequency of more than five cases were considered. The expected number of cases was obtained from indirect standardization with regional incidence rates in several sites that incurred in the overall period. The significance of the observed/expected ratios and the corresponding 95% CI were based on the Poisson distribution. Results In men, a significant standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was found for melanoma (2.21), non-melanoma skin cancers (1.86), Hodgkin's (4.95) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (1.82), and tongue/mouth cancer (2.47). In women, melanoma, non-melanoma skin and breast cancer showed a significant high SIRs (4.13, 1.55 and 1.28 respectively). All other cancers showed a non-significant SIR. Considering all sites combined and all sites except skin cancers, the analysis showed a significant excess in men, whereas a significant risk was observed in women only when also skin cancers were considered. Conclusions Data from the whole of Umbrian population revealed that skin cancer patients experience marked excess risk of further primary cancers. The main risk in both genders is skin melanoma and other skin cancers. The excess of lymphomas and tongue/mouth cancers is also significant in men, and breast cancer in women. These observations prompt us to include a screening for these cancers in the follow-up of our patients surviving a skin malignancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Occupational cancer monitoring is important for cancer prevention and public health protection. A surveillance system for identifying occupational cancer risks and cancer cases in Italy that are likely to be of occupational origin using information available in the Italian Social Security archives was created and assessed. Persons employed in the private sector, the employing company, its industrial sector, and years of employment are available in these archives., Methods: A method to find known occupational hazards was first tested using a case-control approach. Cases were from six Italian cancer registries (CRs) and controls were sampled from source populations and as "exposure" the economic sector of the employing company was used. The potential of using hospital discharge records as case sources was subsequently assessed: these cover larger populations and are available more quickly than CR case series., Results: In the CR-based study many known occupational cancer risks related to specific industrial sectors were identified. By using cases from hospital discharge records many industries at risk were identified, as well as cases of recent diagnosis likely to be of occupational origin. However, for some industrial sectors (e.g., the chemical industry) the approach was unable to detect any excess risk. Furthermore, information on employees in important areas like agriculture, self-employment, and the public sector is not available in the Social Security archives., Conclusions: This approach appears to be a promising low-cost method for occupational cancer surveillance, at least for some industries, and can be easily implemented in other countries.