The objective of this work was to assess the correlation between microvessel density (MVD), pathological stage and disease recurrence in a series of patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. Pathological material from 75 consecutive radical prostatectomies performed before 1994 without neoadjuvant treatment, in which sufficient follow-up data were available, was reexamined. Paraffin embedded material was re-cut and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained. Areas of maximal angiogenesis within tumor were identified. Expression of CD34 was investigated by using the monoclonal antibody MY 10. Within the areas of maximal angiogenesis, microvessels expressing CD34 were counted and specimens were divided into two groups, one showing a count of less than 90 microvessels per microscopic field at 2006magnification (MVD < 90), the second more than 90 microvessels (MVD > 90). The MVD was then related to pathological stage, Gleason score (GS) and outcome of the disease. Mean followup was 84 months. Clinical or biochemical progression was observed in 38.6% of patients. In low GS cases, MVD was always < 90, whereas in GS 5 -6, half had MVD < 90 and half were > 90. In high GS MVD was always > 90. MVD was positively associated with a higher pathological stage. Progression of the disease was observed in 20% of MVD < 90 and in 51% in MVD > 90 (P ¼ 0.006). MantelHaensz test showed a correlation between MVD and time to progression (P < 0.05). Although problems exist in methods of counting and in the cut-off number of vessels, which can discriminate the risk categories, it may be concluded that microvessel counts, using CD34 monoclonal antibody, can accurately predict the outcome of radical prostatectomy.

Systemic mastocytosis is a rare heterogeneous myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by abnormal proliferation and activation of mast cells. We describe a large multicentre series of 460 adult patients with systemic mastocytosis, with a diagnosis based on WHO 2008 criteria, in a "real-life" setting of ten Italian centers with dedicated multidisciplinary programs. We included indolent forms with (n 5 255) and without (n 5 165) skin lesions, smouldering (n 5 20), aggressive (n 5 28), associated with other hematological diseases mastocytosis (n 5 21) and mast cell leukemia (n 5 1). This series was uniquely characterized by a substantial proportion of patients with low burden of neoplastic mast cells; notably, 38% of cases were diagnosed using only minor diagnostic criteria according to WHO 2008 classification, underlying the feasibility of early diagnosis where all diagnostic approaches are made available. This has particular clinical relevance for prevention of anaphylaxis manifestations, that were typically associated with indolent forms. In multivariate analysis, the most important features associated with shortened overall survival were disease subtype and age at diagnosis >60 years. Disease progression was correlated with mastocytosis subtype and thrombocytopenia. As many as 32% of patients with aggressive mastocytosis suffered from early evolution into acute leukemia. Overall, this study provides novel information about diagnostic approaches and current presentation of patients with SM and underlines the importance of networks and specialized centers to facilitate early diagnosis and prevent disease-associated manifestations.

The aim of this study was to determine cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) concentrations in a normal population and to analyse their relationship with sex and age. The sample was recruited among patients undergoing spinal anaesthesia, without neurological diseases. NSE was determined by means of immunometric assay. One hundred and eight patients (68 men) were recruited. CSF-NSE concentration was (mean +/- SD) 17.3 +/- 4.6 ng/ml (men 17.4 +/- 4.2, women 17.0 +/- 5.2, P = 0.62); serum concentration was 8.7 +/- 3.9 ng/ml (men 8.9 +/- 3.9, women 8.3 +/- 4.0, P = 0.06). The mean CSF/serum NSE ratio was 2.3 +/- 0.8 (men 2.2 +/- 0.8, women 2.4 +/- 0.9, P = 0.22). In both sexes, simple regression analysis showed not significantly increasing concentrations with advancing age for both CSF and serum NSE. Serum and CSF concentrations did not correlate in both sexes. In our study, CSF-NSE was twice the serum concentration; both were not influenced by sex or age. Serum and CSF-NSE values vary widely among different studies on normal populations because of different determination methods; therefore, each laboratory should obtain its own reference values. Finally, serum NSE should be used with caution as an indicator of CSF concentration as no correlation could be demonstrated between them in our study.

Cross-reactions between <i>Polistes dominula</i> and <i>Vespula</i> species are common in southern Europe. Currently, only CAP-inhibition demonstrates high accuracy in identifying genuine sensitizations, but this method is time-consuming and expensive, so a new approach is required. This study investigates skin tests, molecular diagnostics, total IgE (tIgE), and the Ves v 5/Pol d 5 (or vice versa) ratio. The ratio generated low-accuracy results and poor agreement with CAP-inhibition, and we did not find any agreement between CAP-inhibition test and double values of Ves v 5/Pol d 5. Nevertheless, a slight diagnostic improvement was obtained when Ves v 5/tIgE and Pol d 5/tIgE were measured.

No abstract