Preoperative risk calculator for the probability of completing nephron sparing for kidney cancer.

PURPOSE: In absence of predictive models, preoperative estimation of the probability of completing partial (PN) relative to radical nephrectomy (RN) is invariably inaccurate and subjective. We aimed to develop an evidence-based model to assess objectively the probability of PN completion based on patients' characteristics, tumor's complexity, urologist expertise and surgical approach. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: 675 patients treated with PN or RN for cT1-2 cN0 cM0 renal mass by seven surgeons at one single experienced centre from 2000 to 2019. OUTCOMES MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSES: The outcome of the study was PN completion. We used a multivariable logistic regression (MVA) model to investigate predictors of PN completion. We used SPARE score to assess tumor complexity. We used a bootstrap validation to compute the model's predictive accuracy. We investigated the relationship between the outcomes and specific predictors of interest such as tumor's complexity, approach and experience. RESULTS: Of 675 patients, 360 (53%) were treated with PN vs. 315 (47%) with RN. Smaller tumors [Odds ratio (OR): 0.52, 95%CI 0.44-0.61; P < 0.001], lower SPARE score (OR: 0.67, 95%CI 0.47-0.94; P = 0.02), more experienced surgeons (OR: 1.01, 95%CI 1.00-1.02; P < 0.01), robotic (OR: 10; P < 0.001) and open (OR: 36; P < 0.001) compared to laparoscopic approach resulted associated with higher probability of PN completion. Predictive accuracy of the model was 0.94 (95% CI 0.93-0.95). CONCLUSIONS: The probability of PN completion can be preoperatively assessed, with optimal accuracy relaying on routinely available clinical information. The proposed model might be useful in preoperative decision-making, patient consensus, or during preoperative counselling. PATIENT SUMMARY: In patients with a renal mass the probability of completing a partial nephrectomy varies considerably and without a predictive model is invariably inaccurate and subjective. In this study we build-up a risk calculator based on easily available preoperative variables that can predict with optimal accuracy the probability of not removing the entire kidney.

Current Standards for Training in Robot-assisted Surgery and Endourology: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Different training programs have been developed to improve trainee outcomes in urology. However, evidence on the optimal training methodology is sparse. Our aim was to provide a comprehensive description of the training programs available for urological robotic surgery and endourology, assess their validity, and highlight the fundamental elements of future training pathways. METHODS: We systematically reviewed the literature using PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Web of Science databases. The validity of each training model was assessed. The methodological quality of studies on metrics and curricula was graded using the MERSQI scale. The level of evidence (LoE) and level of recommendation for surgical curricula were awarded using the educational Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine classification. KEY FINDINGS AND LIMITATIONS: A total of 75 studies were identified. Many simulators have been developed to aid trainees in mastering skills required for both robotic and endourology procedures, but only four demonstrated predictive validity. For assessment of trainee proficiency, we identified 18 in robotics training and six in endourology training; however, the majority are Likert-type scales. Although proficiency-based progression (PBP) curricula demonstrated superior outcomes to traditional training in preclinical settings, only four of six (67%) in robotics and three of nine (33%) in endourology are PBP-based. Among these, the Fundamentals of Robotic Surgery and the SIMULATE curricula have the highest LoE (level 1b). The lack of a quantitative synthesis is the main limitation of our study. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Training curricula that integrate simulators and PBP methodology have been introduced to standardize trainee outcomes in robotics and endourology. However, evidence regarding their educational impact remains restricted to preclinical studies. Efforts should be made to expand these training programs to different surgical procedures and assess their clinical impact. PATIENT SUMMARY: Simulation-based training and programs in which progression is based on proficiency represent the new standard of quality for achieving surgical proficiency in urology. Studies have demonstrated the educational impact of these approaches. However, there are still no standardized training pathways for several urology procedures.

Use of 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT for lymph node assessment before radical cystectomy in bladder cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic performance of 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomograpy (PET)/computed tomography (CT) in nodal staging before radical cystectomy (RC) and pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) for bladder cancer (BCa). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This analysis was based on a cohort of 199 BCa patients undergoing RC and bilateral PLND between 2015 and 2022. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) or immunotherapy (NAI) was administered after oncological evaluation. All patients received preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT to assess extravesical disease. Point estimates for true negative, false negative, false positive, true positive, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of conventional imaging and PET/CT were calculated. Subgroup analysis in patients receiving neoadjuvant treatment was performed. RESULTS: At preoperative evaluation, 30 patients (15.1%) had 48 suspicious nodal spots on 18F-FDG PET/CT. At RC and bilateral PLND, a total of 4871 lymph nodes (LNs) were removed with 237 node metastases corresponding to 126 different regions. Pathological node metastases were found in 17/30 (57%) vs 39/169 patients (23%) with suspicious vs negative preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT, respectively (sensitivity = 0.30, specificity = 0.91, PPV = 0.57, NPV = 0.77, accuracy = 0.74). On per-region analysis including 1367 nodal regions, LN involvement was found in 19/48 (39%) vs 105/1319 (8%) suspicious vs negative regions at PET/CT, respectively (sensitivity = 0.15, specificity = 0.98, PPV = 0.40, NPV = 0.92, ACC = 0.90). Similar results were observed for patients receiving NAC (n = 44, 32.1%) and NAI (n = 93, 67.9% [per-patient: sensitivity = 0.36, specificity = 0.91, PPV = 0.59, NPV = 0.80, accuracy = 0.77; per-region: sensitivity = 0.12, specificity = 0.98, PPV = 0.32, NPV = 0.93, ACC = 0.91]). Study limitations include its retrospective design and limited patient numbers. CONCLUSIONS: In eight out of 10 patients with negative preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT, pN0 disease was confirmed at final pathology. No differences were found based on NAC vs NAI treatment. These findings suggest that 18F-FDG PET/CT could play a role in the preoperative evaluation of nodal metastases in BCa patients, although its cost-effectiveness is uncertain.

Orthotopic Robot-assisted Kidney Transplantation: Surgical Technique and Preliminary Results.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Orthotopic kidney transplantation (KT) has been proposed as an option for patients ineligible for heterotopic KT. In this scenario, orthotopic robot-assisted KT (oRAKT) represents a novel, minimally invasive alternative to the open approach. Here we describe the largest oRAKT series of patients, with a focus on the surgical technique, perioperative surgical outcomes, and functional results. METHODS: We queried prospectively maintained databases from three referral centers to identify patients who underwent oRAKT and evaluated surgical and functional outcomes. KEY FINDINGS AND LIMITATIONS: Overall, 16 oRAKT procedures were performed between January 2020 and August 2023. These involved four donors after cardiovascular death, five donors after brain death, and seven living donors. All oRAKT procedures were carried out in the left renal fossa. The indication for oRAKT was extensive calcification of the external iliac vessels (100%), frequently associated with prior KT (31%). The median operative time was 295 min (interquartile range [IQR] 268-360) and the median rewarming time 48 min (IQR 40-54). Conversion to open surgery occurred in two cases (12%), and delayed graft function was observed in two cases (12%). Postoperative complications occurred in 11 patients (69%) and three (18%) experienced Clavien-Dindo grade >II complications. At median follow-up of 9 mo (IQR 7-17), 14 patients had a functioning graft and median creatinine of 1.49 mg/dl (IQR 1.36-1.72). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Although oRAKT is a challenging procedure, it represents a feasible option for individuals ineligible for heterotopic KT and yields favorable perioperative and mid-term functional outcomes. PATIENT SUMMARY: We evaluated outcomes of orthotopic robot-assisted kidney transplantation (KT), in which the native kidney is removed and the donor kidney is transplanted into its place, in patients who are not eligible for heterotopic KT, in which the native kidney is left in place and the donor kidney is transplanted into a new location. We found that robot-assisted surgery is a safe and feasible alternative to traditional open surgery for orthotopic KT.

Human metabolism of four synthetic benzimidazole opioids: isotonitazene, metonitazene, etodesnitazene, and metodesnitazene.

Following isotonitazene scheduling in 2019, the availability of alternative 2-benzylbenzimidazole opioids (nitazenes) on the global drug market increased, resulting in many fatalities worldwide. Nitazenes are potent µ-opioid receptor agonists with strong narcotic/analgesic effects, and their concentrations in biological matrices are low, making the detection of metabolite biomarkers of consumption crucial to document use in clinical and forensic settings. However, there is little to no data on the metabolism of the most recently available nitazenes, especially desnitro-analogues. The aim of the research was to assess isotonitazene, metonitazene, etodesnitazene, and metodesnitazene human metabolism and identify specific metabolite biomarkers of consumption. The four analogues were incubated with 10-donor-pooled human hepatocytes, and the incubates were analyzed by liquid chromatography-high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry and data mining with Compound Discoverer (Thermo Scientific); the analysis was supported by in silico metabolite predictions with GLORYx open-access software. Metabolites were identified in postmortem blood and/or urine samples from two metonitazene-positive and three etodesnitazene-positive cases following the same workflow, with and without glucuronide hydrolysis in urine, to confirm in vitro results. Twelve, nine, twenty-two, and ten metabolites were identified for isotonitazene, metonitazene, etodesnitazene, and metodesnitazene, respectively. The main transformations were N-deethylation at the N,N-diethylethanamine side chain, O-dealkylation, and further O-glucuronidation. In vitro and autopsy results were consistent, demonstrating the efficacy of the 10-donor-pooled human hepatocyte model to predict human metabolism. We suggest the parent and the corresponding O-dealkyl- and N-deethyl-O-dealkyl metabolites as biomarkers of exposure in urine after glucuronide hydrolysis, and the corresponding N-deethyl metabolite as additional biomarker in blood.

Peri- and post-operative outcomes of robot-assisted radical cystectomy after the implementation of the EAU guidelines recommendations for collecting and reporting complications at a high-volume referral center.

PURPOSE: No studies relied on a standardized methodology to collect postoperative complications after robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC). The aim of our study was to evaluate peri- and post-operative outcomes of patients undergoing RARC adhering to the European Association of Urology (EAU) recommendations for reporting surgical outcomes and using a long postoperative follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 246 patients who underwent RARC with intracorporal urinary diversion at a single tertiary referral center with a postoperative follow-up ≥ 1 year for survivors. Postoperative outcomes were collected prospectively by interviews done by medical doctors. Complications were scored using the Clavien-Dindo classification (CD), grouped by type and severity (severe: CD score ≥ 3). We described peri- and post-operative outcomes and complication chronological distribution. RESULTS: Overall, 16 (6.5%) and 225 patients (91%) experienced intraoperative and postoperative complications, respectively. Moreover, 139 (57%) experienced severe complications. The most common any-grade and severe complications were infectious (72%) and genitourinary (35%), respectively. Overall, 52% of complications (358/682) occurred within 10 days from surgery, and 51% of severe complications (106/207) occurred within 35 days. However, 13% of complications (90/682) and 28% of severe complications (59/207) occurred 3 months after surgery. The earliest complications were fever of unknown origins and paralytic ileus (median time-to-complication [mTTC]: 4 days), the latest complications were urinary tract infection (mTTC: 40 days) and hydronephrosis/ureteral obstruction (mTTC: 70 days). CONCLUSIONS: The rate of postoperative complications after RARC is > 90% when a standardized collection method and a long follow-up is implemented. These results should be used to identify potential areas of improvement and for preoperative patient counseling.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Prostate Cancer Screening: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: Prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is increasingly integrated within the prostate cancer (PCa) early detection pathway. Objective: To systematically evaluate the existing evidence regarding screening pathways incorporating MRI with targeted biopsy and assess their diagnostic value compared with prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening with systematic biopsy strategies. Data Sources: PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane/Central, Scopus, and Web of Science (through May 2023). Study Selection: Randomized clinical trials and prospective cohort studies were eligible if they reported data on the diagnostic utility of prostate MRI in the setting of PCa screening. Data Extraction: Number of screened individuals, biopsy indications, biopsies performed, clinically significant PCa (csPCa) defined as International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) grade 2 or higher, and insignificant (ISUP1) PCas detected were extracted. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was csPCa detection rate. Secondary outcomes included clinical insignificant PCa detection rate, biopsy indication rates, and the positive predictive value for the detection of csPCa. Data Synthesis: The generalized mixed-effect approach with pooled odds ratios (ORs) and random-effect models was used to compare the MRI-based and PSA-only screening strategies. Separate analyses were performed based on the timing of MRI (primary/sequential after a PSA test) and cutoff (Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System [PI-RADS] score ≥3 or ≥4) for biopsy indication. Results: Data were synthesized from 80 114 men from 12 studies. Compared with standard PSA-based screening, the MRI pathway (sequential screening, PI-RADS score ≥3 cutoff for biopsy) was associated with higher odds of csPCa when tests results were positive (OR, 4.15; 95% CI, 2.93-5.88; P ≤ .001), decreased odds of biopsies (OR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.22-0.36; P ≤ .001), and insignificant cancers detected (OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.23-0.49; P = .002) without significant differences in the detection of csPCa (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.75-1.37; P = .86). Implementing a PI-RADS score of 4 or greater threshold for biopsy selection was associated with a further reduction in the odds of detecting insignificant PCa (OR, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.05-0.97; P = .048) and biopsies performed (OR, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.09-0.38; P = .01) without differences in csPCa detection (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.49-1.45; P = .22). Conclusion and relevance: The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that integrating MRI in PCa screening pathways is associated with a reduced number of unnecessary biopsies and overdiagnosis of insignificant PCa while maintaining csPCa detection as compared with PSA-only screening.

Comparative study on informed consent regulation in health care among Italy, France, United Kingdom, Nordic Countries, Germany, and Spain.

The information and subsequent expression of will, so-called informed consent, have become the essential element of health right, understood as the right to autonomous choice in health, based on the fiduciary relationship between physician and patient. This gradually leads European Countries to adopt special legislations and to issue frequent judgments on the subject. However, new challenges in daily clinical practice call for further study of legal solutions. The authors analyse and compare the regulations on informed consent in health care of Italy, France, the United Kingdom, the Nordic Countries, Germany, and Spain. The health and legal contexts, existence of special regulations on informed consent and their characteristics are discussed. Informed consent resulted a mandatory requirement. Clear communication about treatment, therapeutic alternatives, and major risks, discussed in conversation, but preferably documented in writing, are agreed upon. The possibility of dissent and withdrawal of consent are also included. There is a growing interest in involving and regulating the entire health team in information and consent. Lowering the age of consent for minors or analysing the maturity of minors are attempts to increase their participation in health decisions. On another side, the protection of adult incapables persons requires greater involvement of family and fiduciaries to better adapt to changing health needs. Health policy must take responsibility for training health professionals and citizens about the value of health information and communication as a shared choice in care planning, to strengthen the bond of trust with the healthcare system and users.

Macroscopic and Microscopic Cerebral Findings in Drug and Alcohol Abusers: The Point of View of the Forensic Pathologist.

Drug abuse still represents a significant challenge for forensic pathologists; it must always be considered during the autopsy examination when the brain morphological alterations observed are not characteristic of any known disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Nonetheless, no specific brain lesions had been found to characterize the precise drug that caused the poisoning. In fact, a broad spectrum of changes affecting the CNS are seen in drug abusers. Thus, forensic pathology plays a key role in identifying the encephalic morphological alterations underlying the death. The aim of this review is to present an updated overview of the literature regarding the correlation between the main substances of abuse and the morphological alterations of the CNS to help the forensic pathologist to discriminate drug-induced alterations of the brain. The authors used the PRISMA criteriology to perform the bibliographic search for the present review. Among the articles identified according to the selected search criteria, 116 articles were chosen which allow us to define a picture of the main macroscopic and microscopic alterations of the brain in drug abuse.

Oncologic surveillance intensity after endoscopic treatment of upper tract urothelial carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The optimal oncologic surveillance in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) elected for conservative treatment is still a matter of debate. METHODS: Patients elected for endoscopic treatment of UTUC were followed up according to EAU guidelines recommendations after treatment. Bladder cancer recurrence-free survival (BCa-RFS), UTUC recurrence-free survival (UTUC-RFS), radical nephroureterectomy-free survival (RNU-FS), and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The crude risks of BCa and UTUC recurrences over time were estimated with the Locally Weighted Scatterplot Smoothing method. RESULTS: Overall, 54 and 55 patients had low- and high-risk diseases, respectively. Median follow-up was 46.9 (IQR: 28.7-68.7) and 36.9 (IQR: 19.8-60.1) months in low and high-risk patients, respectively. In low-risk patients, BCa recurrence risk was more than 20% at 24 months follow-up. At 60 months, time point after which cystoscopy and imaging should be interrupted, the risk of BCa recurrence and UTUC recurrence were 14% and 7%, respectively. In high-risk patients, the risk of BCa and UTUC recurrence at 36 months was approximately 40% and 10%, respectively. Conversely, at 60 months, the risk of bladder recurrence and UTUC recurrence was 28% and 8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: For low-risk patients, cystoscopy should be performed semi-annually until 24 months, while upper tract assessment should be obtained up to 60 months, as per current EAU guidelines recommendations. For high-risk patients, upper tract assessment should be intensified to semi-annually up to 36 months, then obtained yearly. Conversely, cystoscopy should be ideally performed semi-annually until 60 months and yearly thereafter.

Robotic kidney transplantation.

Kidney transplantation is the best treatment option for patients with end-stage renal disease owing to improved survival and quality of life compared with dialysis. The surgical approach to kidney transplantation has been somewhat stagnant in the past 50 years, with the open approach being the only available option. In this scenario, evidence of reduced surgery-related morbidity after the introduction of robotics into several surgical fields has induced surgeons to consider robot-assisted kidney transplantation (RAKT) as an alternative approach to these fragile and immunocompromised patients. Since 2014, when the RAKT technique was standardized thanks to the pioneering collaboration between the Vattikuti Urology Institute and the Medanta hospital (Vattikuti Urology Institute-Medanta), several centres worldwide implemented RAKT programmes, providing interesting results regarding the safety and feasibility of this procedure. However, RAKT is still considered an alternative procedure to be offered mainly in the living donor setting, owing to various possible drawbacks such as prolonged rewarming time, demanding learning curve, and difficulties in carrying out this procedure in challenging scenarios (such as patients with obesity, severe atherosclerosis of the iliac vessels, deceased donor setting, or paediatric recipients). Nevertheless, the refinement of robotic platforms through the implementation of novel technologies as well as the encouraging results from multicentre collaborations under the umbrella of the European Association of Urology Robotic Urology Section are currently expanding the boundaries of RAKT, making this surgical procedure a real alternative to the open approach.

Separation of undeuterated and partially deuterated enantioisotopologues of some amphetamine derivatives on achiral and polysaccharide-based chiral columns in high-performance liquid chromatography.

The different behavior of enantiomers of chiral compounds in non-isotropic environments (among them in living organism) is well known. On the other hand, the importance of a kinetic isotope effect in the biomedical field has become evident during past few decades. Thus, separation of both, enantiomers and isotopologues is now critical. Only very few published studies have attempted the simultaneous separation of enantioisotopologues. In this article we report baseline separation of partially deuterated isotopologues of a few amphetamine derivatives in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using achiral columns. In addition, the simultaneous separations of enantiomers and isotopologues (i.e. enantioisotopologues) were attempted on polysaccharide-based chiral columns. For several compounds the isotope effect was tunable and could be switched from a "normal" to "inverse" by making changes to the mobile-phase composition. A stronger isotope effect was observed in acetonitrile-containing mobile phases compared to methanol-containing ones with both chiral and achiral columns. In a separation system where both "normal" and "inverse" isotope effects were observed the "normal" isotope effect was favored in polar organic solvents while increasing content of the aqueous component in the reversed-phase (RP) mobile phase favored an "inverse" isotope effect. This observation indicates that polar, hydrogen bonding-type noncovalent interactions are involved in the "normal" isotope effect, while apolar hydrophobic-type interactions are mostly responsible for the "inverse" isotope effect.

Unlocking the Potential of Adequate Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Immunotherapy in Very-high-risk Non-muscle-invasive Bladder Carcinoma: A Multicenter Analysis of Oncological Outcomes and Risk Dynamics.

BACKGROUND: The European Association of Urology (EAU) recommends discussing upfront radical cystectomy for all patients with very high risk (VHR) non-muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma (NMIBC), but the role of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) treatment remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: To analyze oncological outcomes in VHR NMIBC patients (EAU risk groups) treated with adequate BCG. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A multi-institutional retrospective study involving patients with VHR NMIBC who received adequate BCG therapy from 2007 to 2020 was conducted. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: A survival analysis estimated recurrence-free survival (RFS), progression-free survival (PFS), and the cumulative incidence of cancer-specific mortality (CSM) after accounting for other causes of mortality as competing risk events and of the overall mortality (OM). Conditional survival probabilities for 0-4 yr without events were computed. Cox regression assessed the predictors of oncological outcomes. RESULTS AND LIMITATION: A total of 640 patients, with a median 47 (32-67) mo follow-up for event-free individuals, were analyzed. High-grade RFS and PFS at 5 yr were 53% (49-57%) and 78% (74-82%), respectively. The cumulative incidence of CSM and OM at 5 yr was 13% (10-16%) and 16% (13-19%), respectively. Conditional RFS, PFS, overall survival, and cancer-specific survival at 4 yr were 91%, 96%, 87%, and 94%, respectively. Cox regression identified tumor grade (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.54; 1.1-2) and size (HR: 1.3; 1.1-1.7) as RFS predictors. Tumor multiplicity predicted RFS (HR: 1.6; 1.3-2), PFS (HR: 2; 1.2-3.3), and CSM (HR: 2; 1.2-3.2), while age predicted OM (HR: 1.48; 1.1-2). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with VHR NMIBC who receive adequate BCG therapy have a more favorable prognosis than predicted by EAU risk groups, especially among those with a sustained response, in whom continuing maintenance therapy emerges as a viable alternative to radical cystectomy. PATIENT SUMMARY: Our research shows that a sustained response to bacillus Calmette-Guérin in patients can lead to favorable outcomes, serving as a viable alternative to cystectomy for select cases.

Diagnostic Methods in Forensic Pathology: Autoptic Findings and Immunohistochemical Study in Cases of Sudden Death Due to a Colloid Cyst of the Third Ventricle.

The colloid cyst is a non-malignant tumor growth made of a gelatinous material covered by a membrane of epithelial tissue. It is usually located posterior to the foramen of Monro, in the anterior aspect of the third ventricle of the brain. Due to its location, it can cause obstructive hydrocephalus, increased intracranial pressure, and sudden cardiac death, catecholamine-mediated, through hypothalamus compression. All the mechanisms are still controversial, but the role of catecholamine has been confirmed with histological findings that highlighted myocardial injury (coagulative myocytolysis and contraction band necrosis, CBN). This study presents a case of sudden death in a previously healthy 22-year-old male due to a colloid cyst of the third ventricle. A complete autopsy was performed, highlighting in the brain an abundant quantity of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and a 2 cm pale grayish-green rounded cyst formation partially filling and distending the third ventricle. The diagnosis was confirmed through immunohistochemical investigation: positivity for Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining and CK7 expression. In cases such as the one reported here, a combined approach of autopsy, histology, and immunohistochemistry is mandatory in order to identify the neoformation's location and morpho-structural characteristics for a correct differential diagnosis, as well as to identify the cause of death.