Maria Grazia Roccia

Anectodal report of acute gastric anisakiasis and severe chest discomfort

Anisakiasis is a gastrointestinal infection caused by larvae, mainly of Anisakis species and Pseudoterranova species, found in saltwater fish. Its symptoms, including abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting, occur usually within 48 hours after ingestion of raw sea water fish, and are caused by penetration of larvae into the gastrointestinal wall. Consideration of this disease based on a history of prior ingestion of raw fish is important for the diagnosis, and a definite diagnosis of gastric anisakiasis is easily made by endoscopic examination. Although usually no specific treatment is needed, relief of the symptoms is hastened by endoscopic removal of larvae. Gastric irritation, such as peptic ulcer disease, may be included in the causes of chest pain or discomfort, but gastric anisakiasis presenting with chest pain has been reported in only a few cases to our knowledge.

Dependency of the Shell-Less Culture on Temperature and Rotating Velocity

Recently, some authors have developed a shell-less culture system for chick embryos by using a plastic film as culture vessels. We will show that velocity of rotation of vessels in incubator and temperature have direct relations with growth of chick embryos. We also obtain a mathematical relation between velocity, temperature and rate of growth of chick embryo.

Stress and Inflammation in Coronary Artery Disease: A Review Psychoneuroendocrineimmunology-Based

Recent findings have deeply changed the current view of coronary heart disease, going beyond the simplistic model of atherosclerosis as a passive process involving cholesterol build-up in the subintimal space of the arteries until their final occlusion and/or thrombosis and instead focusing on the key roles of inflammation and the immune system in plaque formation and destabilization. Chronic inflammation is a typical hallmark of cardiac disease, worsening outcomes irrespective of serum cholesterol levels. Low-grade chronic inflammation correlates with higher incidence of several non-cardiac diseases, including depression, and chronic depression is now listed among the most important cardiovascular risk factors for poor prognosis among patients with myocardial infarction. In this review, we include recent evidence describing the immune and endocrine properties of the heart and their critical roles in acute ischaemic damage and in post-infarct myocardial remodeling. The importance of the central and autonomic regulation of cardiac functions, namely, the neuro-cardiac axis, is extensively explained, highlighting the roles of acute and chronic stress, circadian rhythms, emotions and the social environment in triggering acute cardiac events and worsening heart function and metabolism in chronic cardiovascular diseases. We have also included specific sections related to stress-induced myocardial ischaemia measurements and stress cardiomyopathy. The complex network of reciprocal interconnections between the heart and the main biological systems we have presented in this paper provides a new vision of cardiovascular science based on psychoneuroendocrineimmunology.

René Favaloro: the heart surgeon

SummaryThe story of René Favaloro is almost unknown to the general public. Christian Barnard, the cardiac surgeon who performed the world’s first human-to-human heart transplant, is much more famous than him; still, nowadays many more lives are saved thanks to Favaloro’s work rather than to heart transplants. This paper wants to pay tribute to axa0great doctor and an extraordinary man: René Favaloro.

The holocaust of the disabled

SummaryThe Holocaust is commonly known as the genocide perpetrated by the Nazi regime which killed six million European Jews. Not many people know, however, that another holocaust took place at the same time: the holocaust of the disabled. As Hitler pursued axa0strategic vision of axa0dominant, pure Aryan race, any inferior and weak human being was exterminated. Axa0brief consideration is called for in order to not forget the horrifying events that took place at the beginning of the last century and in order to re-shape our concept of normality.ZusammenfassungDer Holocaust ist weithin bekannt als der vom Naziregime verübte Genozid, bei dem 6xa0Mio. europäische Juden getötet wurden. Nicht viele wissen jedoch, dass zur selben Zeit ein weiterer Holocaust stattfand: der Holocaust der Behinderten. Da Hitler die strategische Vision einer dominanten, reinen, „arischen“ Rasse verfolgte, wurde jeder „minderwertige“ und schwache Mensch vernichtet. Es wird um ein kurzes Innehalten gebeten, um die erschütternden Ereignisse nicht zu vergessen, die zu Anfang des letzten Jahrhunderts geschahen, und um unsere Auffassung von Normalität neu zu formen.

The history of an unknown dermatological wax collection from Cluj-Napoca University “Iuliu Hatieganu”, Romania

SummaryAmong the dermatological wax collections across Europe, one of the latest created is the collection from Cluj-Napoca University, Romania. The initiator was Professor Coriolan Tataru and the moulage artist employed was Dr. Richard Hoffmann. Between the years 1923 and 1928, around 200xa0wax moulages were made, all realised after patients hospitalised in the clinic. The majority of cases represent the dermatological infectious pathology of that time: syphilis, cutaneous tuberculosis and mycetomas. Other interesting moulages represent genodermatoses, pelagra, different cutaneous cancers, and atypical aspects of common diseases like psoriasis and eczemas. The models depicting different stages of syphilis won the gold medal at the Ninth International Congress of Dermato-Venereology held in Budapest in 1935. We believe that the collection has axa0great value from axa0historical, artistic, didactic and scientific point of view, and it is organised as axa0museum within the Dermatology Clinic.ZusammenfassungUnter den dermatologischen Wachssammlungen in Europa ist die Sammlung der Universität Klausenburg, Rumänien, als eine der Letzten entstanden. Initiator war Prof. Coriolan Tataru, und die Moulagen wurden von Dr. Richard Hoffmann erstellt. Zwischen den Jahren 1923 und 1928 wurden etwa 200xa0Wachsmoulagen individuell nach Patienten angefertigt, die stationär in der Klinik waren. Die Mehrheit der Fälle repräsentiert die dermatologischen infektiösen Erkrankungen jener Zeit: Syphilis, Hauttuberkulose und Myzetome. Andere interessante Moulagen stellen Genodermatosen, Pellagra, verschiedene Hautkarzinome und atypische Aspekte verbreiteter Erkrankungen wie Psoriasis und Ekzeme dar. Die Modelle, welche die verschiedenen Stadien der Syphilis abbilden, gewannen die Goldmedaille auf dem 9.xa0Internationalen Kongress für Dermatovenerologie in Budapest 1935. Die Autoren sind der Ansicht, dass die Sammlung aus historischer, künstlerischer, didaktischer und wissenschaftlicher Sicht von großem Wert ist. Sie ist in Form eines Museums innerhalb der Dermatologischen Klinik organisiert.

Terapia low-dose per il controllo dell’infi ammazione

L’infiammazione cronica a debole intensita (low grade chronic inflammation, LGCI) rappresenta una condizione molto frequente la cui incidenza e proporzionale all’eta. I pazienti con malattie infiammatorie croniche presentano un rischio piu elevato di CVD (cardiovascular disesase) e mortalita correlata. I fattori di rischio cardiovascolari sono ovviamente un fattore chiave per l’inizio della CVD; tuttavia la LGCI agisce in modo indipendente: accelera l’aterosclerosi, favorisce l’infarto del miocardio, la malattia cerebrovascolare e l’insufficienza cardiaca (HF). La modulazione dell’infiammazione sistemica passa attraverso vari interventi: nutrizione, esercizio fisico, controllo del microbiota, modulazione dello stress. Un ruolo promettente viene attribuito alla terapia low-dose che utilizza basse dosi di principi naturali e molecole biologiche quali le citochine, i neuropeptidi, gli ormoni e i fattori di crescita.

Rescue Therapy in Patient with Glioblastoma Multiforme Combining Chemotherapy, Hyperthermia, Phytotherapy

Glioblastoma multiforme is a pathology that is poorly treatable and tends towards recurrence. If surgically unresectable, at least without macroscopically visible residue, the prognosis is severe. Here is the case of a 60-yearold woman suffering from recurrent glioblastoma who comes to my observation with no therapeutic options and treated with a combination of antiangiogenic drug, RF capacitive hyperthermia and herbal medicine, earns an acceptable quality of life and survival prolongation of six months.