[Prevalence of insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetes among Italian patients on replacement therapy. Preliminary survey at 3 dialysis centers]

We carried out a retrospective survey to assess prevalence and type of diabetes in three Italian Renal Units located respectively in the North (Tradate, Varese), in the Middle (Latina) and in the South (Reggio Calabria) of Italy. The prevalence of diabetes among patients accepted for RRT was 10.5% (60/659). 40 patients (66.7%) were non-insulin dependent and only 6 patients were insulin-dependent. A similar pattern was observed among the 289 patients referred to the Renal Unit of Reggio Calabria during 1972-1987 for evaluation of Chronic Renal Failure. Our data suggest that among the Italian diabetic patients treated by dialysis and transplantation insulin-dependent diabetes is uncommon. This finding could be explained by the low incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes in Italy.

[Cryogenic treatment of rectal tumors]

10 patients with anal or rectal cancers were given liquid nitrogen cryogenic treatment. In 5 cases the treatment was given prior to abdominoperineal amputation of the rectum. The remaining 5 inoperable cases were given the cryogenic treatment alone, followed, in 3 cases by derivative colostomy. Histological reports on the removed tissues, carried out at different times after the cryogenic treatment, showed the effects of the treatment on the neoplasias and the surrounding tissues and showed the histological equivalent of possible local immunological processes. The thrombosis in the surrounding blood vessels appears to indicate the efficacity of cryogenic therapy in preventing the metastasis of neoplastic cells.