[Pilomatrixoma or Malherbe's calcifying epithelioma. A case report and review of the literature]. / Il pilomatrixoma o epitelioma calcifico di Malherbe. Descrizione di un caso e revisione della letteratura.

The case of a upper extremity calcifying epithelioma of Malherbe in a 16-year-old boy is reported. Clinical and pathological features of this extremely rare tumour, arisen from hair cortex cells, are reviewed. Pilomatrixoma has been reported not only as a benign lesion, or as a low-grade malignant lesion with a tendency to recur locally, but also as a highly malignant tumour. Factors influencing clinical differential diagnosis and prognosis are discussed as well.

Control of the operated carotid with ultrasound. Anatomical and hemodynamical modifications, both local and intracranial.

BACKGROUND: A study has been done on the operated carotid monitoring the modifications of the wall and of the flow in the site of the operation and at the intracranial level. METHODS: 146 operated carotids were studied using transcranial Doppler, duplex and color. The pre-surgical data were confronted with the postsurgical ones on the 4th day, one month later, 3 months later and every 6 months. RESULTS: The cerebrovascular reactivity (CR) and the cerebral hemodynamic latency time (CHLT), improved in more than half of the patients with stenosis >80%. When the stenosis is of minor entity, the improvement appears in 10% of the cases. The VCR and CHLT modifications appear within 1 month following the operation. Kinkings are more frequent with the patch (6%) than with the direct suture (3%). The symptomatic restenosis is 2%, while the asymptomatic one is 11%. The restenosis is present in 8% of the cases with direct suture and in 3% of those with suture with patch. CONCLUSIONS: The local and intracranial modifications after carotid revascularization depend on new anatomical and hemodynamical situation due to surgery. The response of the wall which can be of four types: myointimal reaction, is a "physiological" response to the trauma and its thickness does not exceed 3 mm; myointimal hyperplasia, with thickness exceeding 3 mm; early restenosis (12 to 18 months); late restenosis (after 2 years). Substantial differences in velocity between systole and diastole and the systolic stress favor hyperplasia more than low velocities with smaller differences.

[Recurrence of varicose veins after treatment. Multicenter study by the Italian Doppler Club, Clinical and Technological Society]. / La comparsa di varici dopo loro trattamento. Studio multicentrico del Doppler Club Italiano Società di Clinica e Tecnologia.

BACKGROUND: The first results of a multicentric study dealing with recurrent varicose veins after surgery are presented. The aims of the study are: identifying the type of varicose vein, specifying the most frequent complaints (esthetical or functional), locating the causes of recurrence, establishing the causes and the most frequent seat of recurrence, clarifying whether it is enough to call recurrent all the varicose veins which appear after surgery or whether it is necessary to distinguish various typologies. METHODS: 194 patients (139 women and 55 men) aged 51.6 average (range 28-87), have been studied up to now with duplex and color scanner following a precise protocol which consisted of three stages: before treatment, within 2 months from treatment and after recurrence of varicose veins or venous insufficiency symptoms. RESULTS: Recurrent varicose veins represented 65.7%, residual ones 14.3%, new ones 2.5%. It has not been possible to identify the type of varicose vein in 8.3% of cases. Stripping of the great saphenous veins was carried out in 88% of cases, short stripping in 4.1%, stripping of the short saphenous veins in 6.9%. Recurrent varicose veins were due to technical error in 78.7% of cases, to diagnostic error in 9.2%, to unidentifiable causes in 12% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: Data relating to the prospective study of the research will be published in subsequent papers.

[Observations on the vertebro-basilar system studied by ultrasound]. / Considerazioni ed osservazioni sul sistema vertebro-basilare studiato con ultrasuoni.

Vertebro-basilar circulation is complex because conditioned by several factors. Ultrasounds allow the study of many of its aspect, both hemodynamic and anatomical. Data were obtained from the examination of 50,000 patients over 25 years, of which the last 1,000 patients were examined by means of transcranial Doppler, duplex scanner color and power. 40% of these patients were found normal, 20% only had arterial thickening, 26% various types of stenosis, 10.6% subclavian steal, 14% short vertigo. The basilar artery (BA) flow (230 ml/min +/- 40) is similar to that of the internal carotid (245 ml/min +/- 50). In elderly patients, the absence of a posterior communicating artery (28%) or of both arteries (13%) is more frequent than the absence of the anterior communicating artery (7%). In normal patients decubitus variations do not modify the BA flow. In patients with vertigo due to decubitus variations, BA flow velocity increases from 20% to 40% during vertigo. Subclavian steal completely modifies the hemodynamics of vertebral arteries, while in the BA it can vary in part or completely. In conclusion, vertebral hemodynamics is different from BA hemodynamics. BA must be considered as one side of the Willis' polygon because it is an anastomosis between the vertebral arteries and is a "hemodynamic damper" between intracranial and extracranial circulation.

Classification of the subclavian steal syndrome with transcranial Doppler.

Ultrasound has provided a highlight of the different types of subclavian steal. The authors report epidemiological and clinical data concerning 40,000 ultrasound examinations performed on epiaortic arteries and particularly the last 12,000 in which Doppler c.w., duplex scanner and transcranial Doppler were used. Various types of steal are described; five types of subclavian steal have been classified and patients stratified as being symptomatic and asymptomatic. The neurological symptoms are divided as follows: generalized cerebral ischemia, vertebro-basilar ischemia and hemispheric ischemia. Based on this clinical and haemodynamic outline, surgical therapy is indicated and type of surgery suggested.

A new classification of varicose veins to compare various surgical strategies.

Considering the presupposition that chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) and varicose veins classifications are extremely difficult, and that none of those presently in use are sufficiently complete, the authors propose the classification of the haemodynamic venous disease (HVD) and of the varicose veins from the clinical, anatomotopographical, etiopathogenetical and haemodynamical point-of-view. This type of classification allows us to closely follow the disease's evolution, to distinguish the benign forms from the more aggressive ones, and to evaluate the results of the medical, surgical and schlerotherapical treatments, from the efficiently, functional, instrumental and aesthetically point-of-view.

[Ultrasonic quantification, value of color and contribution of transcranial Doppler sonography in carotid artery surgery]. / Quantificazione ultrasuonografica, utilità del colore ed apporto del Doppler transcranico nella chirurgia della carotide.

The authors briefly report their experience regarding the opportunities offered by the use of current ultrasound methods in carotid surgery. They describe: a system for the quantification of athcromasic plaque used to monitor non-operated patients over time; ultrasound methods used to analyse the carotid wall to establish whether it can be utilised as an index of vascular aggression in hypertension, diabetes and atherosclerosis; the use of transcranial Doppler; criteria for the definition of high risk plaque; the applications of eco-color Doppler. The paper also illustrates a new pathology identified by the authors, defined as primary intimal fibrous hyperplasia, and the evolution of the carotid wall after endarterectomy. The structural characteristics of primary hyperplasia can only be shown using ultrasound given that arteriography cannot distinguish it from atheromatic stenosis. After endarterectomy the carotid wall is subject to hematic and hemodynamic stimuli which determine the type of evolution of the wall itself. The authors therefore examine the myointimal reaction, myointimal hyperplasia, early restenosis and late restenosis as different facets of the same phenomenon.