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Background: Only a few studies have reported muscle imaging data on small cohorts of patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). We aimed to investigate the muscle involvement in a large cohort of patients in order to refine the pattern of muscle involvement, to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of muscle weakness, and to identify potential imaging biomarkers for disease activity and severity. Methods: One hundred and thirty-four DM1 patients underwent a cross-sectional muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. Short tau inversion recovery (STIR) and T1 sequences in the lower and upper body were analyzed. Fat replacement, muscle atrophy and STIR positivity were evaluated using three different scales. Correlations between MRI scores, clinical features and genetic background were investigated. Results: The most frequent pattern of muscle involvement in T1 consisted of fat replacement of the tongue, sternocleidomastoideus, paraspinalis, gluteus minimus, distal quadriceps and gastrocnemius medialis. Degree of fat replacement at MRI correlated with clinical severity and disease duration, but not with CTG expansion. Fat replacement was also detected in milder/asymptomatic patients. More than 80% of patients had STIR-positive signals in muscles. Most DM1 patients also showed a variable degree of muscle atrophy regardless of MRI signs of fat replacement. A subset of patients (20%) showed a ‘marbled’ muscle appearance. Conclusions: Muscle MRI is a sensitive biomarker of disease severity alsofor the milder spectrum of disease. STIR hyperintensity seems to precede fat replacement in T1. Beyond fat replacement, STIR positivity, muscle atrophy and a ‘marbled’ appearance suggest further mechanisms of muscle wasting and weakness in DM1, representing additional outcome measures and therapeutic targets for forthcoming clinical trials.

Objectives To determine the prevalence of different comorbidities in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), and their impact on outcome, treatment choice and response. Methods Using a structured questionnaire, we collected information on comorbidities from 393 patients with CIDP fulfilling the European Federation of Neurological Societies and Peripheral Nerve Society criteria included in the Italian CIDP database. Results One or more comorbidities were reported by 294 patients (75%) and potentially influenced treatment choice in 192 (49%) leading to a less frequent use of corticosteroids. Response to treatment did not differ, however, from that in patients without comorbidities. Diabetes (14%), monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) (12%) and other immune disorders (16%) were significantly more frequent in patients with CIDP than expected in the general European population. Patients with diabetes had higher disability scores, worse quality of life and a less frequent treatment response compared with patients without diabetes. Patients with IgG-IgA or IgM MGUS had an older age at CIDP onset while patients with other immune disorders had a younger age at onset and were more frequently females. IgM MGUS was more frequent in patients with motor CIDP than in patients with typical CIDP. Conclusions Comorbidities are frequent in patients with CIDP and in almost 50% of them have an impact on treatment choice. Diabetes, MGUS and other immune diseases are more frequent in patients with CIDP than in the general population. Only diabetes seems, however, to have an impact on disease severity and treatment response possibly reflecting in some patients a coexisting diabetic neuropathy.

Seppur premiata da una fortuna minore rispetto a quella occorsa alle opere narrative, la produzione teatrale di Svevo rappresenta una parentesi determinante della sua carriera letteraria: il triestino, infatti, ci ha lasciato un corpus teatrale significativo, composto da tredici copioni, distribuiti su un arco biografico che si estende dal 1880, anno dell’Ariosto governatore, fino ad arrivare, con La rigenerazione, agli anni immediatamente precedenti alla morte. Si consideri, inoltre, che quella per il teatro fu una passione che accompagnò Svevo per l’intera esistenza, sia come frequentatore di spettacoli tanto in Italia quanto all’estero, sia come critico per le più importanti testate triestine. Per questi motivi, è parso opportuno in questo lavoro di ricerca tornare su un tema – quello delle commedie di Svevo – meno considerato dalla critica. Nella prima sezione della tesi, intitolata Svevo e il teatro, dopo un rapido profilo della critica e della storia delle rappresentazioni, si è cercato di delineare i confini del rapporto che unì Svevo al mondo del palcoscenico. Nella seconda sezione di del lavoro, intitolata Trasgressione, ribellione e falsificazione nel teatro sveviano, sono state prese in analisi le pièces del triestino; le commedie sono state raggruppate in base a tre nuclei tematici: trasgressione, ribellione e falsificazione., Although rewarded by a minor fortune than that which occurred to the novels, Svevo’s plays are a determinant parenthesis of his literary career: in fact, the writer has left thirteen commedies, distributed over a biographical arch which extends from 1880, the year of Ariosto governatore, up to, with La rigenerazione, the years immediately preceding his death. Consider, too, that the theater was a passion that accompanied Svevo for the whole of life, both as a frequenter of shows in Italy and abroad, both as a critic for the most important newspapers in Trieste. For these reasons, it seemed appropriate in this research back on a theme - that of Svevo’s plays - less regarded by critics. In the first section of the thesis, entitled Svevo e il teatro, after a short outline of the criticism and of the history of representations, we tried to delineate the borders of the relationship that joined Svevo to the world of the stage. In the second section of the work, entitled Trasgressione, ribellione e falsificazione nel teatro sveviano, were taken into analysis the plays; comedies were grouped according to three themes: transgression, rebellion and forgery.

This paper provides an overview of the studies on Italo Svevo published from 2005 to 2012

scheda a EDUARDO SACCONE, Tagli, innesti, margini e cicatrici: Il ritorno di Renzo

scheda a FABRIZIO GOVI , Il più celebre romanzo della letteratura italiana, in I classici che hanno fatto l’Italia

scheda a • DAVIDE DE CAMILLI, La nominatio reticente nei Promessi sposi, in Studi di storia e critica della letteratura italiana dell’Ottocento e del Novecento in onore di Giuseppe Farinelli, a c. di ANGELA IDA VILLA, introduzione di ERMANNO PACCAGNINI e ANGELA IDA VILLA

scheda a FABIO MARRI, ROSSELLA TERRENI, PATRIZIA FRANCESCHINI, Alessandro Manzoni, in Prove di lettura. Esercizi di commento su autori dal Duecento all’Ottocento

Quotations or echoes of the Bible, found in several works of Svevo, are listed and discussed in the present article: they may be divided in two sorts. In the first group of passages the biblical reference is clear or so evident as to imply the author’s will to make the source explicit; the second group includes texts where the reference is hidden or disguised in a wider contest that attenuates its recognizability.

Objective The possibility of depicting through ultrasound (US) the nerve and its surroundings should be very useful in traumatic nerve lesion (TNL) management. Our study aimed at evaluating the contribution of US as complementary tool in a neurophysiological laboratory for the diagnosis and management of TNL. Methods A total of 112 nerves from 98 consecutive patients with clinical suspicion of TNL were considered. Two independent and blinded clinicians, different from the examiners performing electrodiagnosis and US, classified clinical, neurophysiological and US findings and classified the contribution of US as follows: ‘contributive’ and ‘non-contributive’ if US confirmed the clinical and neurophysiological diagnosis or if US findings were unremarkable. Results US was ‘contributive’ (strongly modified the diagnostic and therapeutic path) in 58% of cases (n: 65) providing information on therapeutic approach (immediate or delayed surgery), diagnosis and follow-up. US specifically contributed to the (1) assessment of nerve continuity/discontinuity, hence neurotmesis/axonotmesis; (2) identification of aetiology; and (3) demonstration of multiple sites of damage. US was contributive mainly in cases with neurophysiological evidence of complete axonal damage. Conclusions US should be used, when available, in all patients in whom TNL is suspected as it provides a more comprehensive diagnosis than neurophysiologic studies alone. Anatomical information is often crucial for choosing the most appropriate therapeutic strategies (and for surgical planning). Significance US can improve the outcome of TNL.

recensione a ITALO SVEVO, Commedie, a c. di GUIDO LUCCHINI

scheda a FABIO PIERANGELI, Una dolcezza imperscrutabile? Ritratti di Manzoni, in Attorno a questo mio corpo. Ritratti e autoritratti degli scrittori della letteratura italiana, a c. di LAURA PACELLI, MARIA FRANCESCA PAPI e FABIO PIERANGELI

recensione GIORGIO BÀRBERI SQUAROTTI, Lucia e Angelica, in Studi di storia e critica della letteratura italiana dell’Ottocento e del Novecento in onore di Giuseppe Farinelli, a c. di ANGELA IDA VILLA, introduzione di ERMANNO PACCAGNINI e ANGELA IDA VILLA

Recensione a GINO TELLINI, Metodi e protagonisti della critica letteraria. Con antologia di testi e prove di lettura

AIM: The aim of this study is to report three cases that needed myofunctional and orthodontic treatment and the good results achieved after the therapy. Orthodontic treatment alone, in presence of bad habits, is not enough to solve the orthodontic issues, so it needs to be combined with myofunctional treatment.

Review of Raffaele Ruggero, Etica e diritto nella Storia della colonna infame, in Lettere ed arti. Studi in onore di Raffaele Cavalluzzi

In the article the author goes into the most significant stages of psychoanalytic criticism applied to the Svevo’s Confessions of Zeno. We consider two areas of investigation: firstly, we focus on the sections of the novel where is possible to see a reuse of material from Freud; secondly, we consider the parallel between the story of Zeno Cosini and Oedipus, in his double meaning of literary character and emblematic figure of the complex identified by Freud.

review of Italo Svevo. Il sogno e la vita vera, a cura di Mario Sechi