Acute abdomen is a medical emergency, in which there is sudden and severe pain in abdomen of recent onset with accompanying signs and symptoms that focus on an abdominal involvement. It can represent a wide spectrum of conditions, ranging from a benign and self-limiting disease to a surgical emergency. Nevertheless, only one quarter of patients who have previously been classified with an acute abdomen actually receive surgical treatment, so the clinical dilemma is if the patients need surgical treatment or not and, furthermore, in which cases the surgical option needs to be urgently adopted. Due to this reason a thorough and logical approach to the diagnosis of abdominal pain is necessary. Some Authors assert that the location of pain is a useful starting point and will guide a further evaluation. However some causes are more frequent in the paediatric population (like appendicitis or adenomesenteritis) or are strictly related to the gender (i.e. gynaechologic causes). It is also important to consider special populations such as the elderly or oncologic patients, who may present with atypical symptoms of a disease. These considerations also reflect a different diagnostic approach. Today, surely the integrated imaging, and in particular the use of multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT) has revolutionised the clinical approach to this condition, simplyfing the diagnosis but burdening the radiologists with the problems related to the clinical management. However although CT emerging as a modality of choice for evaluation of the acute abdomen, ultrasonography (US) remains the primary imaging technique in the majority of cases, especially in young and female patients, when the limitation of the radiation exposure should be mandatory, limiting the use of CT in cases of nondiagnostic US and in all cases where there is a discrepancy between the clinical symptoms and negative imaging at US.

Treatment of monogenic autoinflammatory disorders, an expanding group of hereditary diseases characterized by apparently unprovoked recurrent episodes of inflammation, without high-titre autoantibodies or antigen-specific T cells, has been revolutionized by the discovery that several of these conditions are caused by mutations in proteins involved in the mechanisms of innate immune response, including components of the inflammasome, cytokine receptors, receptor antagonists, and oversecretion of a network of proinflammatory molecules. Aim of this review is to synthesize the current experience and the most recent evidences about the therapeutic approach with biologic drugs in pediatric and adult patients with monogenic autoinflammatory disorders.

We propose a practical approach for performing high-resolution MR lymphangiography (MRL). We shall discuss and illustrate the technical approach for the visualization of lymphatic vessels in patients suffering from lymphedema, how to distinguish lymphatic vessels from veins, and MRL role in supermicrosurgery treatment planning. A brief review of literature, from a technical point of view, is also reported.

Objective To evaluate the computed tomographic appearances of mesentery in acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) to recognize characteristic features and their prognostic values. Methods Computed tomographic examinations of 34 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of AMI were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate the number of mesenteric vessels, diameter of the superior mesenteric artery and superior mesenteric vein, mesenteric fat stranding, mesenteric vessel pneumatosis and ascites. Results Overall, at least one of these mesenteric signs was present in all but 1 patient. In all AMI of arterial occlusive type and in 68% of nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia, the number of arterial vessels was reduced (P = 0.067). Mesenteric vessel pneumatosis and reduced number of venous vessels were significantly associated with higher mortality (P = 0.027 and P = 0.042, respectively). Reperfusion signs were associated with a reduced mortality (28.7% vs 65.5%). Conclusion Considering its characteristic features and its possible prognostic value, the evaluation of mesentery will supply additional information in the interpretation of computed tomography in AMI.