Practice parameters for the diagnosis and treatment of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) on behalf of the Italian Society of Colorectal Surgery (SICCR).

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the anus is a human papilloma virus (HPV) related malignancy that is preceded by anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) making this cancer, at least theoretically, a preventable disease. In the past 10 years the diagnosis, management and nomenclature of AIN has dramatically changed. Increased life expectancy in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients due to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has caused an increase in the incidence of SCC of the anus. While many experts recommend screening and treatment of anal high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), there is no consensus on the optimal management these lesions. Therefore, there is a need to review the current evidence on diagnosis and treatment of AIN and formulate recommendations to guide management. Surgeons who are members of the Italian Society of Colorectal Surgery (SICCR) with a recognized interest in AIN were invited to contribute on various topics after a comprehensive literature search. Levels of evidence were classified using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine of 2009 and the strength of recommendation was graded according to the United States (US) preventive services task force. These recommendations are among the few entirely dedicated only to the precursors of SCC of the anus and provide an evidence-based summary of the current knowledge about the management of AIN that will serve as a reference for clinicians involved in the treatment of patients at risk for anal cancer.

Bullous pemphigoid in Liguria: a 2-year survey.

BACKGROUND: The epidemiology of bullous pemphigoid (BP) is not clear because of the heterogeneity of the disease, and its possible association with internal malignancies has been under debate for many years. We report the findings of a 2-year study on incident BP cases in the Liguria region of Italy. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Thirty-two patients with BP were collected over the 2-year period. Diagnosis was made based on clinical findings and confirmed by histology, direct immunofluorescence (DIF) and indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) with salt-split skin and monkey oesophagus, and immunoblotting (IB). All patients were thoroughly investigated for possible malignancies and all were followed up for 6 months to monitor the response to treatment. RESULTS: DIF showed linear deposits at the dermoepidermal junction in all but one patient. IIF gave positive findings for 15 sera tested with monkey oesophagus and 20 tested with salt-split skin. IB gave positive findings in 19 cases. There was a malignancy in six cases, but no clinical or immunological features that could be considered to predict this occurrence. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study are in accordance with most of the data found in the literature, including the fact that IgG serum levels did not predict the course of the disease. Contrary to previous indications, IgE levels were not indicative of disease course either. Mucosal lesions, erythema multiform-like lesions, negative IIF findings and antibodies to AgPB2 were not a prediction for the development of malignancy.

Rat bladder epithelium: a sensitive substrate for indirect immunofluorescence of bullous pemphigoid.

Serological diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid is based on immunoblotting or indirect immunofluorescence on normal human salt-split skin. These methods are expensive or time-consuming and not available as a routine test in all laboratories. We used rat bladder epithelium as substrate for indirect immunofluorescence and compared it with other substrates and with immunoblotting. Twenty-nine bullous pemphigoid sera were studied on rat bladder epithelium, monkey oesophagus, salt-split skin and with immunoblotting on human keratinocyte cultures. Indirect immunofluorescence on rat bladder epithelium proved to be more sensitive (72%) than on monkey oesophagus alone (45%) and less sensitive than on salt-split skin (97%). Rat bladder epithelium, when tested on 41 sera of a control group, showed a very high specificity: 2/41 (95%). In combination with immunoblotting on keratinocyte extracts, indirect immunofluorescence on rat bladder epithelium allowed 93% of sera to be recognized, a value close to the salt-split skin alone. Rat bladder epithelium appears to be a more sensitive substrate than monkey oesophagus for the diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid and, although less specific, it is easier and faster than using salt-split skin, which remains indispensable to distinguish bullous pemphigoid from epidermolysis bullosa acquisita.

Multiple eruptive dermatofibromas in a patient with HIV infection: case report and literature review.

Multiple eruptive dermatofibromas have been reported in the setting of autoimmune diseases treated with immunosuppressive drugs and more recently in the course of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We report herein the ninth case of multiple eruptive dermato fibromas associated with HIV infection. The relevant literature is reviewed and the differences of these lesions from "ordinary" dermatofibromas are discussed.