Elastofibroma dorsi: clinicopathological analysis of 71 cases.

INTRODUCTION: Elastofibroma dorsi (ELD) is a rare soft tissue benign tumor of the chest wall. So far, only a few large series have been reported in the English literature and, to the best of our knowledge, radiological assessment and clinical management remain without consensus. The aim of this study is to provide, on the basis of a single-institutional, homogeneous and large experience, ample evidences to support etiological and "clinical-usefulness-grade" classification hypotheses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report observational information on 71 ELD cases and, on the basis of these, we discuss the clinical onset features, radiological and surgical characteristics, as well as pathological and immunohistochemical evidences. RESULTS: In the period between January 1994 and September 2009, 71 consecutive patients (23 male and 48 female; mean age: 60.2 years; standard deviation [SD] ± 8.3 years) with ELD diagnosis were surgically treated at our institution. ELD was right sided in 34 patients (47.9%), left in 25 (35.2%), and bilateral in 12 (16.9%). In nine patients, ELD were diagnosed synchronously and three metachronously. Thirty-eight patients (53.5%) had no significant symptoms; 33 (46.5%) reported a clunking sensation or a localized scapular swelling during the shoulder movements. Sixty-six (93%) patients underwent surgical excision with radical intent while in five patients, a biopsy-only procedure was undertaken. Mean hospital stay was 3.0 days (SD ± 1.2 days) with a morbidity of 10.6% (one case of major postoperative bleeding requested a surgical revision of the hemostasis). At the univariate analysis, the probability of occurrence of morbidity increases with tumor size. All operated patients are alive and well at follow-up with no sign of recurrence and complete resolution of the symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS: ELD is relatively uncommon, benign, and well controlled by radical surgery.

Trocar vs. Seldinger small bore pleural drains: does the technique influence the outcomes? A prospective single-centre study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to compare two positioning techniques of 12-French (Fr) thoracic drains in terms of efficacy, safety, and patient comfort. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a prospective, non-randomized, competitive, non-inferiority study comparing the Seldinger vs. Trocar technique. The primary endpoint was an analysis of the factors that led to unsuccessful drainage positioning. Between the two groups, clinical variables, procedure times, pain, and complications were compared. RESULTS: Seventy-two patients were enrolled in group 1 (Seldinger) and 45 in group 2 (Trocar). The mean procedural time was 7.93±3.02 min vs. 7.09±3.67 min, respectively (p: 0.33). The mean VAS for procedural pain was 2.22±1.47 vs. 2.80±1.88, p: 0.07, and the mean at day 2 was 3.6±1.2 in the SBWGD group vs. 2.7±1.1 in the Unico Group (p: 0.04). There was no difference in terms of complications, residual effusion, and pneumothorax at the first post-procedural chest X-ray. Four days after the procedure, the drain removal rate was 11.6% in group 1 vs. 25% in group 2 p: 0.063). The chest tube was removed after a mean period of 8.87±7.20 days after resolution of pleural effusion or tube dislodgement (7 cases in group 1 vs. 11 in group 2, p: 0.053). CONCLUSIONS: The two techniques resulted in comparable pain and complication rates. Both drains are well-tolerated and efficient at draining pleural effusion, with very low rates of complications and failure. We recommend inserting a longer tube for patients who require chest drainage for an extended period of time.

Ancilla-assisted calibration of a measuring apparatus.

A quantum measurement can be described by a set of matrices, one for each possible outcome, which represents the positive operator-valued measure (POVM) of the sensor. Efficient protocols of POVM extraction for arbitrary sensors are required. We present the first experimental POVM reconstruction that takes explicit advantage of a quantum resource, i.e., nonclassical correlations with an ancillary state. A POVM of a photon-number-resolving detector is reconstructed by using strong quantum correlations of twin beams generated by parametric down-conversion. Our reconstruction method is more statistically robust than POVM reconstruction methods that use classical input states.

N-Acetylcysteine and High-Dose Atorvastatin Reduce Oxidative Stress in an Ischemia-Reperfusion Model in the Rat Kidney.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and high-dose atorvastatin (ATOR) in reducing oxidative stress in a rat kidney model of ischemia-reperfusion injury. METHODS: Forty female rats underwent clamping of the left renal artery for 30 minutes, followed by reperfusion. The effects of pre-ischemic administration of NAC and/or ATOR were evaluated within 4 groups: a) control (no NAC, no ATOR); b) NAC (intraperitoneal NAC administration); c) ATOR (oral ATOR administration); and d) NAC+ATOR (both drugs). Oxidative stress was assessed by measuring the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). Post-ischemia-reperfusion injury was evaluated by means of renal histology. RESULTS: NAC, ATOR, and NAC+ATOR in rats showed lower MPO (P < .05) and higher GPx activity (P < .05) versus control; SOD activity was lower in NAC versus ATOR (P < .05). No difference among groups was found at histology. However, a lower rate of tubular ischemic lesions was evident in NAC+ATOR versus control (P = .07). CONCLUSIONS: Atorvastatin pretreatment provides protection against oxidative stress in a rat kidney model of ischemia-reperfusion injury, reinforcing the evidence of a beneficial effect of statins beyond their cholesterol-lowering properties.

Time-trend analysis of the pulmonary function after surgical treatment for esophageal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate, in function of time, the modification of pulmonary function after radical esophagectomy with the aim of identifying clinical and/or surgical predictors of functional worsening. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data of 57 patients operated from 01/06 to 06/11 were retrospectively reviewed. Thirty-eight patients (67%) underwent transhiatal cervico-laparotomic (CL-Group) and 19 (33%) a Mc-Keown cervico-thoraco-laparotomic esophagectomy (CTL-Group). The pulmonary function has been evaluated before and one month after surgery. The outcome has been benchmarked with demographic/clinical characteristics, the type of operation and the presence of post-operative pulmonary complications (POPCs). RESULTS: Mean age and male/female distribution were 66.6±10.6 yrs and 39/18, respectively. A total of 14 (24% of total sample) POPCs occurred with a significantly higher occurrence in the CTL-Group (71% vs 28%, p < 0.001) and in those patients with a pre-operative concurrent pathological condition (64% in COPD patients vs 36% in patients without COPD, p = 0.021). A global worsening of the spirometric parameters (expressed as the baseline percentage change, Δ) emerged, but this decrease was significantly higher in the CTL-Group in terms of Δ-FVC (p = 0.005) and Δ-FEV1 (p = 0.005). Similarly, those patients who have experienced a POPC, showed a higher reduction of the pulmonary function regardless of the surgical approach when compared with those who did not (Δ-FVC: p = 0.053 and Δ-FEV1%: p = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: In the context of a global reduction of pulmonary function, patients who underwent trans-thoracic esophagectomy or experienced a POPC showed a significantly worse pattern. These patients could be the "best target" for therapeutic rehabilitative strategies in the pre-operative and/or post-operative setting. This assumption is to be proven through prospective clinical trials.

Role of CHRNA5-A3 genetic Locus variants and developing drug for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Cigarette smoking is one of the major risk factors for COPD and COPD severity. In turn COPD is a major independent risk factor for lung cancer. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies both in lung cancer and COPD highlighted the same variants (SNPs) on chromosome 15q25 marking the gene cluster CHRNA3-CHRNB4-CHRNA5 for these smoking related diseases, showing a stimulating connection between this common genetic region and smoking behavior and smoking related illnesses. Different authors identified two candidate regions associated with age at smoking initiation in patients with COPD. The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor polymorphism (rs1051730) on chromosome 15q25 is associated with major tobacco-related diseases in the general population with additional increased risk of COPD as well as lung cancer. Moreover variants on the gene cluster CHRNA3-CHRNB4-CHRNA5 are associated with nicotine addiction antismoking therapy and antismoking therapy side-effects. These findings not only support the notion that variants can influence any therapy for smoking cessation, but offer rational bases to develop new drugs and new therapeutic strategies. Scope of Proposed Topic (50 words): Genome-wide association (GWA) studies both in lung cancer and COPD highlighted the same variants (SNPs) on the gene cluster CHRNA3-CHRNB4-CHRNA5. These data not only support the notion that variants can influence any therapy for smoking cessation, but offer rational bases to develop new drugs and new therapeutic strategies.