Corrado Rispoli

The aim of this study was to evaluate the hydro-surgery VERSAJET system as a suitable alternative to the traditional invasive tissue sampling technique in detecting bacteria and their load in chronic wounds in the elderly. To investigate and evaluate bacterial incidence and load in chronic wounds, we simultaneously performed on 19 affected patients a deep tissue biopsy and tissue collections by the VERSAJET hydro-surgical system. After local cleaning and anesthesia, a deep biopsy was performed with a punch of 3-4 mm in diameter. Subsequently, three tissue samples were collected by the VERSAJET system: one from the first washing in order to investigate the superficial contamination; one from the second washing to investigate deep tissue infection investigation and one from the third washing as a control procedure. After treatment, all tissue samples were cultured in vitro for diagnostic and micro-biological assessment. Nineteen patients with chronic wounds of the lower limbs were enrolled from February 2010 to May 2013. Concordance between deep tissue biopsy cultures and tissue cultures collected by the VERSAJET system was examined. The deep tissue biopsy cultures showed complete concordance with the VERSAJET as follows: 2 patients (11%) for the first washing sample; 10 patients (53%) for the second washing sample; 4 patients (21%) for the third washing sample. However, with reference to only aerobic isolated strains, the concordance of the VERSAJET second washing samples cultures with a biopsy of the deep tissue cultures was very high (84%) and fairly high (63%) in the anaerobic isolated strains. The second VERSAJET washing sample cultures seem to have the highest concordance with the biopsy of the deep tissue cultures. Tissue biopsy remains the leading technique for detecting bacteria and their load in chronic wounds. However, this study shows that the hydro-surgery VERSAJET system is sufficiently effective in detecting bacteria and their load in chronic wounds and can be a potential alternative to a biopsy. In particular, the second washing sample culture showed the best correlation with the deep tissue biopsy culture. However, further studies are needed in order to modify techniques of tissue collection in the VERSAJET system before drawing any conclusions.

The presence of axillary enlarged lymph nodes in the follow-up of a woman with a history of breast cancer should always be thoroughly indagated. Dermatopathic lymphadenopathy presents a specific pathologic pattern found within the lymph nodes and is usually associated with cutaneous rashes. Patients with various skin conditions can develop regional lymphadenopathy, which can result in the asymptomatic enlargement of the lymph nodes, especially in the inguinal, axillary and cervical regions. Dermatopathic lymphadenopathy should be considered in the differential diagnosis also in patients with minimal cutaneous findings. Dermatopathic lymphadenopathy is a benign process and management of these patients consists in simple clinical, mammographic and ultrasonographic follow-up.

The effect of undertreatment with adjuvant hormonal therapy, chemotherapy or radiation was studied in elderly women with breast cancer. A prospectively maintained database was used to identify women undergoing potentially curative surgery between 1997 and 2011. The presentation, pathologic findings, treatment and outcomes of 449 women over 65 were compared to the findings in 1049 younger patients. Moreover, conventionally treated and undertreated elderly patients were identified and their characteristics and outcomes were compared. Both young and old patients presented most frequently with mammographic findings, but older patients presented more frequently with mammographic masses while younger patients presented more frequently with mammographic calcifications. Cancers of older patients were signicantly more favorable than cancers in younger patients with more infiltrating lobular, fewer ductal carcinoma in situ and more frequently estrogen receptor positive and fewer were poorly differentiated. Elderly patients had less axillary surgery, less adjuvant radiation therapy and more hormonal therapy. Fourty-six percent of the 449 elderly patients were undertreated by conventional criteria. Undertreated patients were more frequently in situ, better differentiated, smaller, and more often estrogen receptor positive. Forty-four percent of the undertreated patients died during follow-up without disease recurrence. Despite undertreatment, local and distant disease-free survival was comparable to patients who were not undertreated.

Old age is associated with comorbidity and decreased functioning which influences treatment decisions in elderly breast cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for complications after breast cancer surgery in elderly patients, and to assess mortality in patients with postoperative complications. We retrospectively considered all female patients aged 65 years and older with invasive and in situ breast cancer who were diagnosed and treated between 1997 and 2012 in the Department of General and Geriatric Surgery of the University of Naples "Federico II". 449 patients received surgery, of whom 18,2% (n = 82) developed one or more postoperative complications. The odds ratio of having postoperative complications show an increase with age, reaching statistical significance only for patients older than 85 [OR 5,75 (95% confidence interval 2,38-14,04); p < 0,001]. Number of concomitant diseases [OR 2,51 (95% CI 1,17 - 5,45); p = 0,01 for 3 or more concomitant diseases] and polypharmacy [OR 16,7 (95% CI 9,12 - 30,58); p < 0,0001) are associated to an increased risk of postoperative complications. Overall survival was worse in patients with postoperative complications [HR 2,06 (95% CI 1,52-2,70), p < 0,001]. This increased risk of mortality is probably due to geriatric parameters such as comorbidity or poor physical function, more than to higher complication rates.