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Cryoglobulins are a group of proteins with the common property of precipitating from cooled serum. Cooled cryoglobulinemia is a classic disease caused by immune complexes which subside on vessel walls and produce a clinical picture represented by recurrent purpura, asthenia, arthralgias, Raynaud's phenomenon, glomerulonephritis and sensorimotor neuropathy. The authors describe a case of a patient C.M., 37 years old, with cryoglobulinemia, chronic hepatitis C and gravidic cholestasis at 28 weeks' gestation. The clinical picture worsened with the appearance of mild hypertension with proteinuria and hypochromic anaemia. At 31 weeks' the arthralgic symptomatology and pruritus revealed degeneration with an alteration of glycemic profile values and treatment with rapid human insuline was started. The cardiotocography began to be pathologic and a cesarean section was performed; the newborn weighted 1570 g. Cooled cryoglobulinemia is a pathology which worsens in a gravidic state and can impair the outcome of pregnancy.

Particular conditions exist at the end of some pregnancies which cause an increase in maternal and fetal risk. A valid alternative for these pregnancies is represented by the administration of prostaglandins, in order to obtain labor induction. The goal of our study was to define the eligibility criteria and the epidemiological characteristics that correlate most with a favorable obstetrical outcome. The study was conducted on 133 informed, consenting patients subjected to labor-induced delivery with prostaglandins E2. The mode of delivery in relationship to parity demonstrated that the pluriparous patients had fewer difficulties in labor and in its induction: of the 43 pluriparous cases, none had a cesarean section for failed induction and 95.3% delivered vaginally. One hundred percent of the patients with a Bishop score of more than 4 went into labor, as opposed to 81% of the patients with a score of less than 4. Therefore, taking into consideration the cost of the method, we retain that choosing an active position is valid, respecting the eligibility criteria for the induction of labor described above.

The authors report the incidence of endometrial adenocarcinoma and atypical hyperplasia in 245 women who had undergone uterine curettage for post-menopausal bleeding. In 4 cases a stenosis of the cervix precluded the curettage. Of the remaining 241 patients, 71.3% had negative histology; in 24.4% histology was compatible with adenocarcinoma or atypical endometrial hyperplasia; in a third group of 10 patients a different type of gynecological neoplasia was diagnosed. Obese, nulliparous women were more significantly affected by endometrial adenocarcinoma. The highest incidence was noted among women over 60 years of age. The authors describe some epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the population under study.

Ovarian cancer is the first cause of death from gynaecological malignancy. The poor over-all five year survival rate requires a specific procedure for early detection of ovarian carcinoma. An evaluation of ultrasonography as a screening test in early ovarian cancer is currently used in our Institute. A group of 500 volunteers without clinical symptoms, older than 45 years, and/or in postmenopausal period, were submitted to the procedure. We used a real-time mechanical sector scanner with 3 mHz transducer. The morphology and size of both ovaries were assessed. Abnormal results were obtained in 11 women. Four (4) postmenopausal patients underwent surgery. At the moment our study proves that ultrasonography is a valid procedure in the investigation of the ovaries in postmenopausal women. We need further evaluations to assess the real effectiveness of ultrasound examination as a screening test for early detection of ovarian cancer.