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M Serafini

Publications and source records attributed to M Serafini.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Spontaneous screening for cervical cancer and diagnostic histories of incident cases.

Cytologic and colposcopic histories of cases of invasive cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade III (CIN III) registered in Ravenna (northern Italy) between 1986 and 1990 were evaluated. During the 5 years prior to diagnosis, 10/49 invasive cancer patients and 25/61 CIN III patients had had at least one pap smear reported as negative. At the time of the most recent false-negative report, 9/10 and 17/25 of these cases had been recommended for a repeat smear within 2 to 6 months. Of the 9 patients with invasive cancer, 5 had also undergone an inconclusive colposcopy (with biopsy unperformed). Among invasive cancer patients aged under 50, half of incident cases (7/14) and most of those with some cytologic experience (7/8) had had a false-negative report; each of these patients (7/7) had been recommended for an early repeat smear. For invasive cancer patients as well as for CIN III patients, the suggested intervals for the early repeat were largely exceeded. Median delay in diagnosis was about 2 years. Although the frequency of negative reports recommending repeat smears within a few months was estimated to be some 10% of total screening patients, current concepts in cervical cytology suggest that cancer cases with such false-negative reports should be regarded as follow-up failures rather than laboratory errors. In fact, they passed quite unnoticed. In unplanned (spontaneous) cervical screening practice, sensitivity needs to be maximized, but even the occurrence of false-negative cases is not monitored. The present study points out what may result from such a contradiction.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Breslow thickness of cutaneous malignant melanoma in Ravenna (northern Italy) 1981-1990.

The distribution of Breslow's thickness by sex, age and site of 95 of the 103 cases of primary cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) diagnosed in 1981-1990 in the Ravenna Health District (a low-incidence area in northern Italy) was studied. The median patient age was 57 years. The median tumor thickness was 1.33 mm in females and 2.15 mm in males (two-tailed Wilcoxon rank sum test, p = 0.153). Significantly thinner lesions were found among women up to the median age than among men of the same age group (1.05 mm vs. 1.80 mm, p = 0.034) and older women (2.20 mm, p = 0.035). The difference between males aged under 57 years and older than 57 was not significant (1.80 mm vs. 2.20 mm, p = 0.828). As a consequence, younger women compared favorably with the rest of the population as a whole (2.20 mm, p = 0.011). No significant differences in site-specific median tumor thickness were found between the sexes or between young and older males, whereas CMMs of the legs among females were thinner in the younger age group (0.67 mm vs. 2.20 mm, p = 0.007). The prevalence of younger women in the recognition of early CMM was entirely accounted for by a substantial shift observed in the most recent 5-year period (from 2.40 mm to 0.70 mm, p = 0.006). Specific educational activities have never been carried out in Ravenna.

Female↗