Clinical classification of bone defects concerning the placement of dental implants

The goal of this classification of bone defects related to dental implant placement is to help clinicians accurately discuss proposed treatment regimens and organize treatment for clinical correction. A further goal of this effort to categorize bone defects requiring bone augmentation for implant placement is to standardize terminology to allow for more accurate dental communication. The 5 most encountered categories of bony defects are described.     

Two novel mutations at exon 8 of the Sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1) gene in an Italian series of patients affected by Paget's disease of bone (PDB).

PDB is genetically heterogeneous. Mutations of the sequestosome1 gene have been reported in sporadic and familial forms of Paget's in patients of French Canadian and British descent. Mutational analyses in different ethnic groups are needed to accurately investigate hereditary diseases. We describe two novel mutations of sequestosome1 in 62 Italian sporadic patients, confirming the role of the encoded protein in this disorder. INTRODUCTION: Paget's disease of bone (PDB) is a relatively common disease of bone metabolism reported to affect up to 3% of whites over 55 years of age. The disorder is genetically heterogeneous, and at present, there is scientific evidence that at least eight different human chromosomal loci are correlated with its pathogenesis. Mutations of the sequestosome1 (SQSTM1) gene were identified as responsible for most of the sporadic and familial forms of Paget in patients of French Canadian and British descent. Such mutations were located at exon 7 and 8 levels, encoding for the ubiquitin protein-binding domain (UBA) and representing a mutational hot spot area. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To verify the involvement of this gene in Italian subjects affected by PDB, we performed mutational analysis in 62 sporadic PDB cases. RESULTS: We described three different mutations at exon 8 level: P392L, already described in the French Canadian population and families predominantly of British descendent, and two novel mutations consisting of the amino acid substitutions M404V and G425R. No significant differences in the clinical history of PDB have been observed in patients with SQSTM1 mutations in respect to those without. CONCLUSIONS: Even though our findings suggest a minor involvement of the SQSTM1 gene in the pathogenesis of sporadic Italian Paget's cases, the identification of different significant mutations within the SQSTM1 gene in unrelated, but clinically similar individuals, offers extremely convincing evidence for a causal relationship between this gene and PDB. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess the penetrance of genotype/phenotype correlations. Our findings confirm the evidence of a clustered mutation area at this level in this disorder.     

Total extrusion of the talus: A case report

Total extrusion of the talus without recovery of the bone is a very unusual injury. The authors present a case of a 25-year-old man who sustained an open total enucleation of the talus in a motorcycle accident. The talus was not recovered at the scene of the accident. An immediate tibiocalcaneal stabilization was performed by using an external fixator. In the postoperative period, a polymicrobic infection was observed and treated with parenteral antibiotics. Nine months after injury, the patient developed an infection of both the empty space and the distal third of the tibia. A wound debridement with tibial sequestrectomy and insertion of gentamicin-impregnated polymethylmethacrylate beads was performed. Three months later, after multiple negative bacteriologic examinations, a tibiocalcaneal arthrodesis with staples and autogenous bone graft was performed. Because of a pseudoarthrosis, the patient underwent a revision of the arthrodesis by retrograde tibiocalcaneal nailing, achieving clinical and radiographic success. The definitive treatment of total enucleation of the talus is still controversial because of its rarity and the high rate of complications, such as avascular necrosis, osteomyelitis, and ankle stiffness. In this case, without recovery of the talus, retrograde nailing afforded good stability by bypassing the bone defects.     

Video-EEG Study of Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures: Differential Characteristics in Patients with and without Epilepsy

Summary:  Purpose: Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are episodes that may resemble epileptic seizures (ES) but are not associated with abnormal electrical discharges in the brain. Video-EEG recording of a typical episode is considered the best diagnostic tool available. PNES are, however, also documented in patients with epilepsy (PNES/ES). The purpose of this study was to assess this comorbid population, focusing on the differences between patients with PNES/ES and patients with PNES alone.
Methods: We reviewed 110 PNES episodes, occurring spontaneously or induced by means of suggestion techniques, recorded in our video-EEG laboratory over a period of eight years. We identified two subgroups of patients, consisting of 85 PNES cases and 25 PNES/ES cases, and assessed any differences in their characteristics by reviewing a number of variables (age, sex, clinical features, antiepileptic therapy, age of onset, time to diagnosis, pathological history, and length of follow-up).
Results: The comparison between the two subgroups revealed that PNES/ES patients displayed some statistically significant differences when compared with PNES alone patients, i.e., younger age, a higher percentage of spontaneously activated events, a shorter disease duration, a longer time to PNES diagnosis, and a lower percentage lost at follow-up.
Conclusions: This study confirms that PNES is a common, though probably underestimated, occurrence in epilepsy services. Our results shed light on some different characteristics between PNES and PNES/ES patients.     

p53 and skin carcinomas with skull base invasion: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Some skin carcinomas may be very aggressive. Increased expression of the protein p53 has been associated with tumor aggressiveness. In this study, p53 expression was evaluated in basal cell carcinomas (BCC) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) with skull base invasion, and was compared to tumors with good outcome. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Expression of p53 was immunohistochemically analyzed and it was reported as present or absent in 24 BCC and 11 SCC with skull base invasion. Control group (good outcome) included 23 BCC and 10 SCC. RESULTS: Expression of p53 was noted in 70.83% of BCC with skull base invasion, compared to 43.48% in the control group (P = 0.058). Regarding SCC, p53 positivity was noted in only 9.09% of SCC with skull base invasion, compared to 40.00% in the control group (P = 0.149). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, p53 expression was more common among BCC with skull base invasion, compared to controls with good outcome, and the difference was considered marginally significant. This proportion was reversed in SCC, but the difference was not statistically significant. EBM rating: B-3b.     

Pulmonary metastases from epithelial tumours: late results of surgical treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Development of distant metastases is one of the primary characteristics of malignant tumours. During the last decades, lung metastasectomy has been progressively accepted as a therapeutic option in oncology patients. The present paper aims to evaluate the long-term results and factors influencing prognosis in patients submitted to lung resection for metastases from extrapulmonary epithelial tumours. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed data of 202 patients undergoing 207 procedures of lung metastasectomy between January 1980 and December 2003. Factors that may influence long-term prognosis such as completeness of resection, histology of the tumour, disease-free interval, number of resected lesions, involvement of hilar or mediastinal lymph nodes, systemic treatments were investigated. RESULTS: Complete resection was carried out in 169 patients (83.7%). The more frequent lung resection was sublobar in 67.6% of cases, but rarely in selected patients bilobectomy or pneumonectomy has been carried out too. Perioperative morbidity and mortality were 7.7% and 0.9%. Mean disease-free interval was 49+/-48 months. Mean follow-up was 33+/-31 months, 5-year and 10-year survival rates for completely resected patients were 43% and 17%, respectively. By univariate and multivariate analyses, completeness of resection, disease-free interval of 36 months or more, and single resected metastasis were found to be significant prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Resection of epithelial lung metastases allows an acceptable prognostic result in appropriately selected patients with very low perioperative morbidity and mortality. Factors such as high disease-free interval, single metastasis and completeness of resection are demonstrated and confirmed to be significantly associated with long-term survival.     

Cancer risk in farmers: Results from a multi-site case-control study in north-eastern italy

The relationship between farming and cancer risk was investigated in an integrated series of case-control studies conducted from 1985 to 1991 in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, north-east Italy. Patients with cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, colon and rectum, pancreas, breast, thyroid gland, kidney and urinary tract, bladder, prostate, soft-tissue sarcomas, Hodgkin's diseases, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and multiple myelomas, and controls admitted to hospital for acute, non-neoplastic conditions, were interviewed. For males, a significantly elevated relative risk was seen for oral cavity and pharynx. Farming, however, was associated with a significant protection against cancer of the colon and rectum and bladder. In females, only one significant association emerged, for multiple myeloma. A few significant interactions between cancer risk and year of birth (i.e., before 1930 or 1930 and after) were observed. The risk of cancer of the larynx was significantly elevated in younger male farmers but not in older ones. Our multi-site case-control study confirms that farmers have, for some cancer sites, a distinctive pattern. Excesses of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx in farmers are characteristic of the present study area and, possibly, of similar European rural populations who have in common high levels of alcohol consumption and, at least in the past, unbalanced diets.     

Chronic peritoneal dialysis in paediatrics: Experience of a national registry

The results of the first 3 year' collaboration of the Italian Registry of Paediatric Chronic Peritoneal Dialysis (CPD) (1986–1988) are presented. This Registry acquired data on the majority of the paediatric patients treated with CPD in Italy, thus providing a national picture in a field where few nationwide surveys are available. Patients of less than 15 years of age at the start of dialysis were enrolled and clinical data collected until the age of 19 years. The number of nephrological paediatric centres participating in the Registry increased from 7 in 1986 to 11 in 1988. The total number of patients on CPD was 70 and the percentage of dialysed children treated with CPD ranged from 40.2% to 43.6%. Data on 89 peritoneal catheters were collected: during 1417 dialysis-months 70 catheter-related complications were observed (1:20.8 dialysis-months); actuarial catheter survival was 92.7% at 6 months, 84.8% at 1 year and 68.8% at 2 years. The incidence of peritonitis changed from 1 episode every 10.9 patient-months in 1986 to 1 every 19.8 in 1988. Abdominal hernias were the other main clinical complication observed. The survival of patients was 92.5% at 3 years, while the technique survival at the same time was 84%.     

Eye movement quantitative evaluation before and after high-dose 6-methylprednisolone in multiple sclerosis

We studied saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements in 24 patients suffering from multiple sclerosis during disease worsening, before and after high-dose 6-methylprednisolone infusions. Quantitative evaluation of saccades was based on amplitude/duration and amplitude/peak velocity relationships, precision (i.e. the ratio of actual to desired saccade amplitude) and the latency, whereas smooth pursuit eye movements were studied using target velocity/performance index relationship. At basal recordings, 22/24 (91.7%) of the patients showed at lest one abnormality. Eleven of the 24 patients (45.8%) showed modification of one or several parameters: improvement in 6 patients, worsening in 2, coexistence of both trends in 3. Latency improvement was the only significant modification when patients were considered as a group. Neurophysiological modifications did not correspond to clinical changes.