[Myoid tumors of the stomach. Our experience]. / I tumori mioidi dello stomaco. Nostra esperienza.

The authors analyse the incidence of myoid tumours of the stomach in comparison to bowl cancer as a whole and identify the different anatomopathological varieties (benign leiomyoma, leiomyosarcoma and Martin-Stout's bizarre leiomyoma). Symptoms are usually subtle and development slow: important factors are the site of onset (antro-pyloric in 60% of cases, body 25% and cardias 15%), the type of tumour growth (intra- or extraluminal or mixed) and tumour size which may sometimes be considerable. Four categories of patients are identified on the basis of symptoms shown: a) asymptomatic (chance diagnosis), b) aspecific (vague symptoms such as epigastralgia, dyspepsia, ecc.), c) symptomatic (presence of abdominal mass, chronic anemia, ecc.), d) complicated (onset of complications the most frequent of which is acute hemorrhage). The clinical data reported here refers to 4 patients (3 males and 1 female) aged between 53 and 75 years old. In one case diagnosis was made by chance, in 2 cases diagnosis followed acute hemorrhage of the upper digestive tract, and in the case of the woman clinical controls began following the finding of a voluminous abdominal mass. Diagnosis was based on traditional radiology and EGDscopy, as well as ultrasonography and CT. Treatment was surgical in all cases (two enucleations of the lesion and two atypical gastric resections). In the light of the authors' personal experience and data reported in the literature, the discussion focuses attention on the problems of diagnosis and therapy, in particular the various options facing the surgeon in the form of operating tactics.

[Intestinal malrotations in the adult]. / I difetti di rotazione intestinale nell'adulto.

The paper reports a case of intestinal malrotation in an adult patient with an anomalous location in the left hypochondrium of the cecum and vermiform appendix. The patient underwent explorative laparotomy for peritonitis due to acute appendicitis. Following a review of the literature, the anomaly was classified in embryological terms as a union defect during the third developmental stage of the umbilical loop. Attention is focused on the importance of an exact knowledge of the embryology of intestinal rotation in order to avoid technical surgical errors. In conclusion, the value of giving the patient precise iconographic documents is stressed in order to inform the surgeon who may have to operate on the patient's abdomen in the future.

[Dermoid cysts of the ovary]. / Le cisti dermoidi dell'ovaio.

Primordial germinative cell differentiation anomalies give rise to a whole array of generally benign ovarian tumours which are sometimes of glandular structure and functionally active. In certain cases, they deviate from their normal proliferative line and give rise to malignant tumours of various histological nature. Attention is called to the malignant variations of dermoid cysts and to the importance of careful differential diagnosis for the purpose of correct surgical conduct.

Sacrococcigeal and vertebral chordomas. Report of three cases and review of the literature.

Three cases of sacrococcygeal and vertebral chordoma are described. Histogenetic and anatomopathological aspects with particular reference to differential diagnosis from similarly distributed neoplasias are discussed. Anti-cytoskeleton monoclonal antibodies were used to this purpose. The clinical profile of sacrococcygeal and vertebral chordomas is characterized by a pronounced metastatic potential; radiation treatment can only partially counter their biological behaviour, while chemotherapy has proved little or no effectiveness. Where possible, radical surgery is currently the only treatment to guarantee long-term survival or complete cure. Palliative surgery, associate with efficient painkilling, offers a better quality of life and slows down the progress of the disease.

Isolation and characterization of a tropomyosin binding protein from human blood platelets.

We have isolated a tropomyosin binding protein (TMBP) from human platelets using isoelectric fractionation, hydroxylapatite chromatography, and affinity chromatography on skeletal muscle tropomyosin-Affi-Gel 15. TMBP is a 67,000-Da monomeric protein that binds to muscle and nonmuscle tropomyosin affinity resins. Its affinity for platelet tropomyosin is greater than for rabbit skeletal or chicken gizzard tropomyosin, and greater than that of troponin for all tropomyosin affinity resins tested. TMBP forms a complex with platelet tropomyosin that can be isolated on G-150. The approximate molar stoichiometry is 1:1. Troponin and TMBP have distinct binding sites on skeletal tropomyosin since binding of TMBP to tropomyosin-Affi-Gel 15 is not affected by previous saturation of the column with troponin (or vice versa). The amino acid composition of TMBP is virtually identical with that of human serum albumin, and is similar to those of beta-actinin (Heizmann, C. W., Müller, G., Jenny, E., Wilson, K. J., Landon, F., and Olomucki, A. (1981) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 74-77) and acumentin (Southwick, F. S., and Stossel, T. P. (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 3030-3036). The protein we have isolated is the first nonmuscle protein other than actin that has been shown to bind to tropomyosin. Results in an accompanying paper show that this tropomyosin binding protein is identical with human serum albumin (Hitchcock-DeGregori, S. E., Gerhard, M. D., and Brown, W. E. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 3228-3231).