Ventricular pre-excitation in an elderly cat.

An 18-year-old female neutered Domestic Shorthair cat was referred for investigation of seizure-like episodes. Physical and neurological examination were unremarkable, as were systemic arterial blood pressure, cardiac troponin I, complete blood count and biochemistry profile. Diagnostic tests included transthoracic echocardiography which ruled out any structural cardiomyopathy, and electrocardiography which showed an underlying regular wide QRS-complex rhythm with pronounced shortening of the PR interval. Considering the findings, a diagnosis of suspected ventricular pre-excitation secondary to an accessory pathway was made. Further investigations were declined and, as no periods of tachycardia were seen on the five-minute electrocardiogram, no antiarrhythmic treatment was started.

Efficacy of an alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA)-based cream, even in monotherapy, in patients with mild-moderate acne.

AIM AND METHODS: The treatment of mild-moderate acne with topical drugs in association with appropriate cosmetics is currently the golden standard. The tolerability and efficacy of a cream formulated with a new mix of alpha-hydroxy acids (Hyseac AHA cream) in 248 patients with mild-moderate acne (comedonic, inflammatory, or mixed) have been investigated in a multicenter, non-randomized, open study by 10 dermatologists from different Italian areas during their routine practice. The medication with Hyseac AHA cream was prescribed at first consultation for 60 days, twice a day, either as a monotherapy (49.2% patients) or in association with a pharmacological treatment (50.2%). RESULTS: The tolerability was good to excellent in 92.3% patients, without significant differences between patients using AHA cream in monotherapy (90.0%) or associated with concomitant pharmacological treatment (97.6%). The efficacy was overall high in 64.2% patients, again without significant differences related to concomitant pharmacological treatment or not (64.8% vs. 63.3%) and/or the acne clinical type (comedonic vs. inflammatory vs. mixed: 69.2% vs. 66.7% vs. 58%). CONCLUSION: The results of this study, while confirming the high tolerability and efficacy of this AHA cream in the treatment of mild/moderate acne, reasonably suggest its possible use also in monotherapy. Furthermore, its use can be reasonably hypothesized as a maintenance treatment after specific pharmacological treatment even in more severe acne types.

[Trigeminal neurotrophic ulcer. A case report]. / Ulcerazioni neurotrofiche trigeminali. A proposito di un caso.

A case of a 49-year-old woman affected by wide ulcerations on the face which have been caused by the patient herself, as she has admitted, is reported. The lesions were strictly limited to the area of innervation of the first and second branch of the trigeminal nerve. The patient presented parasthesias and analgesia in the trigeminal area as the consequence of a neurosurgical operation. She also suffered from important psychosis. All these elements enable us to diagnose "trigeminal trophic ulcers". The pathogenesis of this syndrome is discussed.

[Psoriasis and bullous pemphigoid. Description of 3 clinical cases]. / Psoriasi e pemfigoide bolloso. Descrizione di tre casi clinici.

Three cases with coexisting psoriasis and bullous pemphigoid are reported and the possible etiopathogenetic relationships between the two diseases are discussed.

[Cutaneous angiogenesis associated with vulvar epidermoid carcinoma]. / Angiogenesi cutanea associata a carcinoma epidermoide vulvare.

A case of cutaneous angiogenesis, probably induced by tumour angiogenic factors (TAF), is described. The patient, a 39-year-old female, affected by a vulvar squamous cell carcinoma, developed some erythematoangiomatous lesions on the lower abdominal quadrants, contiguously to the tumour. Histopathologically, the lesions were characterized by vascular neoformation in the superficial dermis and a slight lymphohistiocytic lesions resolved after the polychemotherapy which preceded enlarged vulvectomy. This supports the hypothesis of a close correlation between neoangiogenesis and TAF.