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Biomedical subjects

F Canavese

Publications and source records attributed to F Canavese.

45 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

[Omphalocele: 10-year-experience].

We review our experience of 32 cases of omphalocele treated in the last ten years. Improved neonatal intensive care unit, as well as other support care measures, allowed to extend even to the large defects the indication to radical primary repair. Our experience has supported that this is the method of choice in almost all cases. At present the surgical success depend on associated anomalies, cardiac especially (25% in our series), and on development of sepsis. Analysis of the results shows an overall mortality rate of 41% in the period 1973/1982, significantly decreased to 33% in the last five years.

Administration, Topical↗

[Endodermal sinus tumor in childhood. Clinical study of 6 cases (author's transl)].

Six children with yolk sac tumor, 3 occurring in gonadal sites and 3 in extragonadal ones, were studied with respect to pathological features, laboratory findings and clinical course. Their histological appearance was similar regardless of the site of origin. The prognosis was poor, but all the cases exhibited objective response to chemotherapy. Two children are alive and off therapy from 27 and 60 months. Three of the six patients in which serum alfa-fetoprotein determinations were performed showed positive results. The demonstration of alfa-fetoprotein in the serum of these patients could prove to be of prognostic value, indicating the presence of residual or recurrent disease. It is advisable to gather cases from many Institutions in order to specify prognostic factors, to know the natural history of this tumor and to prepare an effective therapeutic program.

Adolescent↗

[Ingestion of caustics in childhood: proposal for a therapeutic protocol].

Caustic ingestion is a traumatic event not rare in the infancy. The authors, after a brief discussion of their cases and after a revision of the literature, propose a therapeutic protocol for the treatment of caustic ingestion in the infancy. This protocol is based on the esophagoscopy in the first day and on the antibiotic and corticotherapy in the first two weeks. When there is an esophageal stenosis, the authors propose weekly esophageal dilatations.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

[Cryptorchidism].

Cryptorchidism is the most frequent anomaly of an endocrine gland; it entails risks of infertility and testicular cancer. Its pathogenesis is thought to be multifactorial including anatomical and mechanical together with endocrine causes. In the last decades most Authors favoured the hypothesis that some degree of androgen insufficiency during fetal life may play a role in determining testicular maldescent. Morphological alterations have been demonstrated in cryptorchidism testes since birth; both tubular and interstitial damage already can be found in the first months of life. A critical phase in germinal development occurs during the third month when gonadotropin and testosterone postnatal surge induces the first maturational step in germ cells development. In cryptorchid infants, gonadotropin insufficiency at this time reduces germ cells differentiation, leading to progressive germinal decline, which becomes manifest after 12 months of life. In the opinion of some Authors, germinal alteration can be partially reversed by early scrotal reposition of the cryptorchid testes. Hormonal therapy with human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) has been used in the past decades with variable results. A combination of the two hormones has had a greater effect in inducing testicular descent compared to single hormone treatment. Although some surgeons already treat cryptorchid patients during childhood, an increasing number of pediatric surgeons believe that early treatment, performed during infancy is preferable, when considering the early and progressive histological damage seen in cryptorchid gonads. In our opinion, also hormonal treatment performed during the first year of life seems preferable since it can at the same time induce scrotal descent of cryptorchid testes and substitute postnatal gonadotropin insufficiency.

Adolescent↗

[A gastric trichobezoar: a report of a clinical case with anomalous presentation].

The Authors describe a case of a voluminous trichobezoar in a girl 9 years old. The patient was referred for evaluation of abdominal pain that presented after a banal blunt abdominal trauma occurred some days earlier. On physical examination an epigastric mass was detected. For a few days the girl suffered of inappetence and postprandial vomit. She was noted to have thin and sparse hair, thin eyebrows and onychodysplasia: these findings were considered as features of cutaneous adnexa dystrophy. The blood test and other laboratory findings were within normal limits. Abdominal US and UGI series failed to detect the nature of the mass. Therefore the patient underwent gastroscopy that showed a voluminous trichobezoar, so big and hard that gastrotomy was required for removal. The weight of the mass was 700 g; it occupied the whole stomach from fundus to pylorus. Postoperative recovery was uneventful. After discharge the patient was referred to the Neuropsychiatric Service for treatment trichophagia and prevention of recurrence. The most common site of trichobezoar is stomach. Clinical findings are often aspecific. US and UGI series may not allow the correct diagnosis. A rational diagnostic suspicion can arise when alopecia circumscripta is present. Endoscopy remains the elective technique: this procedure can be contemporarily diagnostic and therapeutic. Surgical approach is required only in case of trichobezoar with peculiar size, shape and hardness. We feel that a neuropsychiatric support is necessary to avoid recurrence.

Bezoars↗