[Retroperitoneal tumors]. / Tumori retroperitoneali.

The authors after giving a general view of retroperitoneal tumors also describe briefly their anatomo-clinical features pointing out the controveries of these neoplasms. Personal case histories are illustrated emphasizing the importance of shortening the time of diagnosis in regards with already sintomatic neoplasms which are misdiagnosed. The efficiency of present methods of diagnosis in relation with therapeutic problems is documentated and acknowledged.

[Intraoperative prevention of pulmonary embolism from neoplastic caval thrombosis secondary to renal tumors]. / Prevenzione intraoperatoria dell'embolia polmonare da trombosi neoplastica cavale secondaria a tumori renali.

The authors analyze diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic influence of caval neoplastic thrombosis in management of renal cell carcinoma. They describe, for the first time, the utilization of De Weese caval clip to prevent intraoperative pulmonary embolism secondary to surgical manipulations.

[Giant aneurysm of the splenic artery: case report and review of the literature]. / Aneurisma gigante dell'arteria splenica: case report e revisione della letteratura.

INTRODUCTION: The authors describe an unusual case of giant aneurysm of the splenic artery. The problem of deciding between endovascular and open vascular surgery and what are the tools necessary to choose the most appropriate procedure are discussed in this report. CASE REPORT: A man 55 years old was admitted to the hospital for an unspecified abdominal pain. Subsequent examinations (TC and angiography) showed a large aneurysm of the splenic artery without any sign of rupture. Endovascular treatment was excluded because of the extreme tortuosity of the artery; the patient underwent open surgical operation of legation of the aneurysm and splenectomy. The patient was discharged in 6th postoperative day. DISCUSSION: Splenic artery aneurysm are usually an occasional finding but they are related with an important risk of rupture and mortality; elective treatment both surgical and endovascular is recommended. Emergency surgery is still complicated with an high rate of mortality related to the patient's comorbidities. Endovascular treatment by covered stent-graft or selective embolization may represent the best option but it can be proposed only after an accurate selection of the patients. Endovascular treatment also seems to be feasible even in emergency but only in very selected cases and in expert vascular-interventional units. Laparoscopic surgery has been performed only sporadically. CONCLUSIONS: We would like to point out that nowadays the treatment of splenic artery aneurysm doesn't give a real choice and each case should be assessed singularly with the purpose to choose the best therapeutic approach either percutaneous or surgical.

On-line solid-phase extraction of ceftazidime in serum and determination by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A column-switching high-performance liquid chromatographic assay is described for the determination of ceftazidime (a third-generation cephalosporin) in human serum. The method does not require prior sample pretreatment. Serum is directly injected in a first chromatographic column for sample clean-up and extraction. Thereafter, using an on-line column-switching system, the drug is quantitatively transferred and separated on a second, analytical column followed by determination using ultraviolet absorption at 258 nm. The technique allows direct, rapid, precise, and simple determination of ceftazidime in serum over the range of 1-250 micrograms/ml using 12.5 microliters of serum. This method was applied to study the pharmacokinetics of the drug in patients undergoing vascular surgery.