Search

The percentage of female doctors employed in the health sector is constantly increasing both in Europe and in Italy with repercussions on organizational and socio-family models, currently not conceived in terms of equal opportunities, career and quality of life. The published studies have mainly taken into consideration economic and career disparities, (1) however, to date no study combined with surveys has highlighted criteria for evaluating the quality of work through the direct and sincere experience of workers. This reflection gave rise to the idea of a survey organized by the ANAAO Medical Women Group with the patronage of the Tuscan Medical Orders Federation organized on a homogeneous sample, i.e. female doctors from a single Region, Tuscany, in order to evaluate and new approaches in the management of human resources that take into account the delicate balance between the real possibilities available to the doctor and the complexities of experiential work that arise over the course of a lifetime. Empirical evidence deriving from specific investigations conducted at trade union and ordinistic level still document the existence of a gender gap between male and female doctors with respect to the reference parameters of quality work, such as the economic and ergonomic dimension, in relation to the physical and psychological aspects of people.

In the last twenty years there has been an increase in the proportion of women practicing the medical profession which has occurred in parallel with the increase in participation of women in the scientific professions. Italy has a stable percentage of women at 40% in 2016 compared to 60% in the Baltic countries, Romania and Croatia (1). This increase in the total number obtained did not automatically guarantee women doctors the right to access the roles of leaders and fair economic consideration in all the European countries analyzed. All this affects the quality of life of women and the authority of the knowledge expressed by them, with consequent implications on the economic and social context.

Primary benign tumors of the heart are particularly rare; cardiac hemangioma is one of the most rare primary benign cardiac tumors. Natural history, symptoms and prognosis of the disease depend on the potential complications due to the location and diffusion of the mass. We report on 2 cases of cardiac hemangioma, diagnosed occasionally in the first patient or due to gastroenteric symptoms in the second patient. The diagnosis was obtained by 2-D-echo and magnetic resonance imaging. In both cases the hemangioma was located on the right ventricle. Both patients underwent tumor resection in hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. In one case, a graft to the right coronary artery was associated; in the other case, the right ventricular outflow tract was reconstructed with an infundibular patch. Histology showed mixed hemangioma in one case and cavernous hemangioma in the other. The postoperative course was uneventful. At a follow-up of 8 years and 1 year, respectively, both patients are classified as NYHA 1 and both 2-D-echo and magnetic resonance imaging did not show any residual tumoral mass. This experience demonstrates that, depending on their location, benign neoplastic masses may be radically resected with acceptable operatory risks and excellent long-term results.

Brucella infective endocarditis is an uncommon, but serious complication of brucellosis. The aortic valve is the most commonly affected cardiac valve, and a fearful complication is the formation of aortic root abscess. Due to the characteristics of the infection, medical therapy alone is not sufficient in treating the disease and best results are achieved in combination with surgery. We describe 2 cases of brucella endocarditis involving the aortic valve. Aggressive treatment, with surgery performed during a period of active infection, produced good results in eradication of infection and in preventing fatal complications such as rupture of aortic root abscesses.

The saliva plays a profound role in a removable prosthodontic treatment in edentulous patients. Indeed the presence of a thin salivary film is essential to the comfort of the mucosa. The saliva also plays pivotal role for the stomatitis of prothesic etiology, found in significant numbers of complete and partial denture wearers. Additionally, saliva in cause in calcolus deposition and in anomalous hue of removable denture.