[Exposure to asbestos in buildings in areas of Basilicata characterized by the presence of rocks containing tremolite]. / Esposizione ad amianto in edilizia in aree della Basilicata caratterizzate dalla presenza di rocce contaminate da tremolite.

Lucania, in southern Italy, is characterized by areas with natural outcrops of rocks containing tremolite. The study aims to assess the risk of exposure to asbestos in the building workers in these areas through environmental sampling near sites for implementation of safety of roads built on serpentinite rocks and personal sampling in a group of persons who work in the building industry and a group of residents engaged in activities without contact with the ground. Near road sites was found the presence of airborne tremolite in 66% of environmental samples with peaks up to 31 ff/l. The analysis of personal samples showed the presence of tremolite in doses higher than the natural background in 100% of the building workers, while there were no fibers in the samples of residents employed in activities without soil disturbance. The study shows that the building in areas with naturally occurring asbestos determines a condition of significant occupational exposure to asbestos. Adequate safety measures for workers exposed are needed.

[Adenocarcinoma of the nose after occupational exposure to wood dust: description of a case]. / Esposizione lavorativa a polvere di legno ed adenocarcinoma primitivo dei seni paranasali: descrizione di un caso.

UNLABELLED: The occupational exposure to wood dust, classified by IARC as carcinogenic certain may determine the onset of epithelial tumors of the mass graves and nasal sinuses. The symptoms of these malignancies are aspecific (nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea), the diagnosis is often delayed. CLINICAL CASE: Worker of 59 years occupied, from 1960 to 2005, in carpentry (construction of coffins), who died in 2006 for a nasal adenocarcinoma of the mass graves extended to the cranial base, initially considered intracranial cancer given the wide cranial fossae prior to the histological diagnosis. The case is emblematic to late diagnosis and long survival (the worker has survived for more than three years after TAC diagnosis of intracranial mass occurred in 2003). CONCLUSION: Extending the cranial base of a cancer of the nose and sinuses occurred in a worker exposed to wood dust is a serious critical in the system of health surveillance in the company. This rare neoplasm is a "sentinel event" that highlights a problem of underestimation of this occupational tumor and consequent failure of occupational disease complaint is therefore required a careful accounting and reporting of cases.

Multicenter study of childhood headache.

This multicenter study reports the results obtained between 1990 and 1991 by the Study Group for Childhood Headache of the Italian Neuropediatric Society. Standardized computerized case sheets were used in order to increase the number of young patients studied and obtain more homogeneous results. A clinical diagnosis of headache was made in 600 patients (314 female and 286 male) between 4 and 12 years of age, in accordance with the classification set down by the International Headache Society. Clinical symptoms and follow-up were more severe in children with migraine as opposed to headache. No sequence of associated neurological and neurovegetative symptoms was observed at onset of headache, and some (phono-photophobia, pallor, drowsiness, abdominal pains) were much more prevalent than others. Because of the patient's age we studied only the treatment of acute attack and did not take account of chronic treatment. In childhood the clinical course of primary headache tends to improve spontaneously, and we believe that prevention of headache attacks should be carried out only in very rare individual cases.

Effectiveness of partial splenic embolization as treatment for hypersplenism in thalassaemia major: a 7-year follow up.

Partial splenic embolization is an alternative procedure to total splenectomy in patients with hypersplenism, and was performed in 10 patients with beta-thalassaemia major who were then followed for 5 to 7 years. The results were compared with those of a 7-yr follow-up of 6 splenectomized thalassaemics. The blood consumption decreased and the leucocyte counts increased in both groups of patients. However, after partial splenic embolization, severe thrombocytosis--which is typical of splenectomized patients--did not develop and there were no severe complications from the operation, such as infections or reappearance of hypersplenism. In addition, the minor surgical injury and avoidance of abdominal scars were further advantages of partial splenic embolization over total splenectomy.

[Juvenile hypertension: a comparison between 2 student populations in the provinces of Ferrara and Rovigo]. / L'ipertensione giovanile: confronto tra due popolazioni studentesche delle province di Ferrara e di Rovigo.

The Authors have investigated the frequency of hypertension (systolic, diastolic, systo-diastolic, severe and borderline, sustained and labile) in 2 groups, respectively of 738 and 1041 school children between 11 and 14 years of age, from the provinces of Ferrara and Rovigo. The percentile graphic representations and the frequency of different types of hypertension have been compared in these two parallel studies; a correlation of statistical significance has been shown between hypertension and obesity in the Ferrara group, while a similar correlation between hypertension and familiarity for hypertension has been demonstrated in the Rovigo group.

[Aseptic necrosis of the head of the femur in Cooley's disease]. / La necrosi asettica della testa del femore nel morbo di Cooley.

The incidence of aseptic necrosis of femoral head in homozygous beta-thalassaemia (Cooley's anaemia)--which is indeed significantly high--is not satisfactorily referred in late literature regarding haemolytic syndromes. Therefore, 4 cases of osteonecrosis of femoral head, recently recognized in a series of 280 patients affected by Cooley's anaemia (14.5 0/00) are presented, and a review of hypotheses about the pathogenesis of the lesions is considered. In Cooley's anaemia, the skeletal lesion (osteoporosis) must be believed as a propitious state, in which some other pathogenetic events (i.e. local ischemia, bony age, etc.) and microtraumas overlap. In any case, characteristic blood circulation of the femoral head is the "conditio sine qua non" in developing osteonecrosis.

Aseptic necrosis of femoral head complicating thalassemia.

Aseptic necrosis of the femoral head is described in 4 patients, selected from 280 patients with homozygous beta-thalassemia (Cooley anemia). The incidence of the complication appears to be very high (14.5%) in thalassemia, compared to the general population. The possible mechanism are discussed.

Endocrine function and diagnostic problems in a prepubertal case of 48,XXYY.

A five-year-old 48,XXYY boy with normal external genitalia, slight bone anomalies and mild mental retardation is described. An endocrine examination revealed normal values with the possible exception of a slight increase of the LH values and the LH response to LH-RH stimulation.